Today marks World IoT Day, a day organised by the IoT Council where people ‘connected’ (geddit?) with the IoT industry can come together to highlight the milestones, challenges, and emerging trends shaping connected technologies.
What is World IoT Day?
Established in 2010 by EU projects Ecosystem Manager Rob van Kranenburg, the event turns sweet 16 on 9 April and has grown into a global platform for knowledge-sharing, from informal meetups to online forums.
This year’s theme, set by Head of Products and Solutions Europe at Bosch Global Software Technologies, Kai Hackbarth, focuses on the sector’s AI-driven rebirth.
“While debates on the ‘death of IoT’ persist, we are seeing a massive rebirth,” Hackbarth says. “Combining AI-driven intelligence at the Edge with a strong framework for data and infrastructure sovereignty allows us to move from simple connectivity to resilient, autonomous systems.”
Connectivity Milestone
A major focus this year is connectivity. According to the GSMA, the number of active NB-IoT and LTE-M connections surpassed one billion globally at the end of 2025. This reflects more than a decade of collaboration between mobile operators, device manufacturers, and standards bodies, enabling large-scale deployments in sectors such as utilities, transport, logistics, and smart infrastructure.
Cyril Deschanel, Group MD Europe & UK at Wireless Logic, says that while connecting devices is no longer the main challenge, managing them across their full lifecycle is now critical:
“Devices in smart cities, agriculture, and logistics are expected to operate reliably for ten to fifteen years. Ensuring connectivity remains resilient, secure, and adaptable across this period is key. Decisions made on day one can shape operational costs, security, and reliability for years to come.”
He says standards like SGP.32 are playing a growing role, enabling enterprises to manage device connectivity remotely, comply with regional regulations, and localise traffic for data sovereignty.
Industrial IoT and Legacy Network Migration
Yet legacy networks continue to pose challenges. With the UK’s 3G networks retired in 2025 and 2G gradually being phased out, industrial IoT manufacturers must update long-lifecycle devices.
“The sunsetting of 2G and 3G has created a complex environment for industrial IoT,” says Dunstan Power, Director at ByteSnap Design. “Manufacturers face multiple migration paths while complying with regulations such as the Cyber Resilience Act.”
ByteSnap says its Design’s Cellular Migration Fast-Track service helps transition legacy devices to LTE-M, Cat-1Bis, and 4G, covering RF hardware design, firmware integration, antenna optimisation, and certification management.
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