The number of public LoRaWans available globally has grown by 66% over the past three years, according to the LoRa Alliance.

Historically, public LPWAN deployment was driven by mobile network operators (MNOs); however, much of the recent growth has been enabled largely by non-MNOs that are building critical dedicated infrastructure to support the expanding needs of LPWAN IoT.

Recent investments by satellite and community LoRaWan providers, along with roaming availability in over 23 countries, have further accelerated network availability and global coverage. At the same time, private networks are experiencing an explosive rate of growth. This new landscape for LoRaWans shows growth in diversity — public, community, satellite and private, as well as hybrid network approaches — which is a competitive differentiator for LoRaWan.

“LoRaWan operators are building new types of infrastructure to meet future IoT networking requirements,” said Donna Moore, CEO of the LoRa Alliance. “This evolution in the types of networks and network providers is expected, and a sign of a healthy and vibrant market. These new network players are nimble, agile and able to grow beyond the constraints of pre-existing network infrastructure. They are successfully building profitable business models to maximise the value of their LoRaWans and meet the evolving needs of LPWAN IoT deployments. LoRaWan is the only LPWAN providing a choice of network types, along with interoperability and roaming between networks, that will continue to drive strong growth in LoRaWan capacity.”

Today’s agile network operators benefit from the market’s evolving requirements for coverage, availability and accessibility worldwide. LoRaWan infrastructure is low cost, easy to deploy and offers flexibility, which is driving the technology’s growth. This shift in the market towards a choice of infrastructures allows businesses to capitalise on the huge LPWAN market opportunity. This supports the continued evolution in the life cycle of the emerging IoT market.

“The installed base of LPWAN devices will exceed two billion units in 2025,” said Steve Hoffenberg, director at market research firm VDC Research. “With LoRaWan’s low-cost gateways, ready adaptability to both public and private networks, and satellite capability, it is uniquely positioned to bring connectivity to the widest range of devices and places, helping to drive the market growth of LPWANs.”

Moore added: “It is an exciting time to be part of the LoRa Alliance, because the evolving market is driving innovation that can only be addressed by our ecosystem. The variety of IoT use cases demands the flexibility and choice that LoRaWan can deliver. We have hundreds of members that span numerous verticals developing countless solutions to improve the planet and citizens’ lives, while also improving businesses’ performance and profits. With the innovation from our open global ecosystem and flexibility to accommodate a wide variety of business models, LoRaWan continues to be the thought and market leader in LPWAN.”