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9 IoT cellular networks and LPWANs are the two basic offerings in the long-range market. Cellular networks historically suffer from poor battery life and the potential for gaps in coverage. Another difficulty is technology sunsetting (when a technology is intentionally phased out). Thirty million 2G endpoints exist in the United States, orphaned by sunsetting. Many of the IoT devices must remain on the network for 10 years. This doesn't make economic sense, especially if a cellular network is sunset and no longer supports the devices. Mesh networks like Zigbee are in use in IoT applications. Although many home automation systems deploy Zigbee, it isn't an ideal fit for LPWAN applications. Mesh networks are effective at medium distances and don't have the long-range capabilities of LPWAN technologies. Most importantly, they are not battery efficient, considering each node must constantly receive and repeat neighboring radio frequency (RF) signals. When sensors scale in number, Zigbee and other mesh networks don't adequately fit the needs of LPWAN applications. A Look at Applications The first and most obvious benefit to automated homes is convenience: A multitude of connected devices joined to make life easier for the user. IoT encompasses unique and standard applications, spanning from simple to extremely complex. Home-based IoT devices reduce costs and conserve energy. Our homes can be cool, warm, illuminated, and more based on our habits as well as on our immediate or expected presence. Cellular and LPWANs will accommodate these situations and more. Cellular networks, however, do have a distinct advantage in that they serve fixed and mobile devices, deliver extremely high-quality service and security, and already possess a robust commercial network. Using a licensed spectrum versus the interference-prone Industrial, Scientific, and Medical (ISM) bands used by Bluetooth and Wi-Fi, they are adept at roaming between networks of different providers, which has been a feature of cellular networks since their inception. LPWANs will offer regional services based on Sigfox, LoRa, or other standards, thus inhibiting roaming. The Future is Now The cellular industry has strong and inherent advantages and strengths over LPWAN providers. However, LPWAN offerings can target niche applications that wireless carriers won't address. It's within reason that wireless carriers may expand services to the edge so that long-range technologies like Bluetooth, Zigbee, Z-Wave, Wi-Fi, and others can connect sensors on a local level. As often as IoT is in the headlines, the reality is that we're still at its genesis. It seems possible that cellular technology and non-cellular LPWAN will both address home automation for the near term. However, what isn't up for grabs is the expected growth of the marketplace. Many research firms are weighing in with their estimates: • Machine Research suggests that cellular connections will grow from what was 332 million in 2015 to 2.2 billion in 2025—the majority of which will be LTE. The firm also estimates that IoT connections will grow from 6 billion to 27 billion over the same period, with 72 percent of the connections being short range. • IHS Markit predicts there will be LPWAN growth. However, it expects that the estimated 191 million LPWAN connections in 2019 will be minuscule in comparison to the 541 million cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) IoT connections that has been forecasted for the same year. Still, IHS Markit anticipates rapid growth for LPWAN beyond 2019. • IHS Markit also predicts that the global 5G value chain will generate $3.5 trillion in output, supporting 22 million jobs by 2035. • In a 2017 survey by Gartner, 57 percent of respondents from end-user organizations believe that their company will use 5G to drive their IoT communications. • IDC predicts that by 2021 5G's broad enablement of IoT use cases will drive 70 percent of the G2000 companies to spend $1.2 billion on connectivity management solutions. • BI Intelligence, Business Insider's premium research service, expects that the number of shipped smart home devices will grow from what was 83 million in 2015 to 193 million in 2020: This includes washers, dryers, refrigerators, safety and security systems, sensors, monitors, cameras, alarm systems, smart thermostats, and smart lighting. The overall strategy is to implement IoT connectivity today using the latest versions of LTE while improving on it in the near future— at which time the standards making up 5G will be in place. 5G will then receive improvements, which aim at increasing performance. LoRa, as a significant competitor to cellular IoT solutions, already uses very narrow bandwidths and low data rates, which is extremely beneficial for LPWAN providers.

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