In digital economies 5G is increasingly preferred over Wi-Fi, according to a new Omdia IoT Enterprise Survey. The same survey indicates that in digital economies, companies - as well as government agencies - plan to invest more in internet of things projects.

Omdia's survey results are positive across the IoT value chain. As 66% of enterprises are using or plan to use 5G connections, while 53% are using or plan to deploy new connections using LTE, communications service providers are likely to see growth in high-bandwidth, high-value connections. Additionally, the responses were encouraging for low-bandwidth connectivity such as NB-IoT and LoRaWAN.

According to the latest Omdia IoT survey, enterprises are increasing their IoT spending and deploying devices because IoT projects are meeting or exceeding returns on investment (ROI) expectations. In a survey of over 500 IoT-enabled enterprises across a number of countries, Omdia found that over 90% reported that their IoT projects have met or exceeded expectations.

Although both IoT and 5G have been criticized for overpromising and underdelivering, the IoT market is still developing and 5G technology is still advancing. Nevertheless, Omdia believes that enterprises are adopting IoT and 5G is emerging as the preferred form of connectivity.

Enterprises face a number of challenges when it comes to IoT solutions, the research company reports. Security, privacy, and complexity continue to be pain points. All of these issues present opportunities for systems integrators, cloud providers, hardware vendors, component suppliers, and other IoT vendors.

Photo credit: Rob Sarmiento