Future-Proofing of IoT Critical as 5G Launches, 5G Americas Says

The continued evolution of LTE is critical to the IoT's future, 5G Americas said Tuesday. Some forecast 20 billion connected things and $1 trillion in worldwide spending on the IoT by 2020, the report said: “IoT has arrived -- there are more connected devices worldwide than the global population.” But challenges remain. “The future-proofing and delivery of IoT becomes essential as networks transform from 4G to 5G,” said co-author Vicki Livingston, vice president-communications. “In 2019, we are seeing the early deployment of 5G networks,” she said: “However, LTE IoT will continue to evolve over coming years, leveraging the scale, longevity and global coverage of LTE networks and complement initial 5G New Radio deployments that focus on enhanced mobile broadband and high-performance IoT.”