Cellular connectivity is anticipated to deliver about 60% of M2M revenues by 2018, a new ABI Research report suggests.
The report also predicted that by then the trend of the internet of things will cover more than two billion devices across cellular, satellite, fixed-line and short-range wireless technologies among nine major industries.
ABI Research principal analyst Jonathan Collins said that looking at demand for connectivity, cellular will provide the greatest opportunity to drive the most overall value from those connections.
"Over the forecast period short-range wireless or wireless sensor network connectivity will outpace cellular connection growth, but there is little ability for those connections to directly deliver any revenues for the provision of that connectivity," Collins said.
According to the research firm, a new generation of smart devices would have embedded connectivity, which will offer manufacturers several technologies to select from to deliver network connectivity.
"In addition, satellite with higher revenue per connection does not have the same versatility as cellular limiting its appeal to fewer verticals," Collins added.
The research firm also said that the strong adoption of cellular will be boosted by a combination of mobility, flexibility, coverage and simple connection management.