Cost Structure of IoT Connectivity Services

Abstract: This thesis is a techno-economic study focus on the IoT connectivity service field. It describes the specifications of LPWAN, LPLAN, and Cellular-IoT technologies. The analysis method of dimensioning and cost structure calculation of IoT network is enhanced from previous wireless network research, which is also a research gap in the telecom industry. By using this method, the dimensioning results and cost structure performances can be obtained when having the inputs of the scenario. The results are compared among SigFox, LoRaWAN, NB-IoT, LTE-M, EC-GSM-IoT, and WiFi-HaLow. Furthermore, we find out the cost driver of different technologies. When it comes to different actors, a new market entrant or an incumbent, the strategies taken by the actors are compared. They are building own sites or leasing sites from other actors, even reusing sites if possible. The contribution of this thesis is pointing out the dimensioning and cost structure calculation method of deploying IoT connectivity. Another contribution is comparing the cost performance and figuring out the cost driver. SigFox is costefficient for low capacity scenario, while LTE-M is of good cost performance for high capacity cases. The cost driver is operation and maintenance cost and site build cost. By leasing and reusing sites, the site build cost can be largely reduced.