28 Billion IoT Devices to be Connected?

One reason mobile service providers particularly are interested in the "Internet of Things" and machine-to-machine apps is the sheer number of devices that will require communications capability.

Where fixed network connections are a roughly one billion size existing market, mobile is a six billion existing market and IoT might be a 28 billion devices market, in the 2020s, according to equity analysts at Goldman Sachs. 

Even if average revenue per IoT device is, for example, about $5 a month, where a phone might represent $40 to $80 a month in revenue, the sheer number of connected IoT devices creates a substantial connectivity market.

If mobile service providers are able to create a role in other parts of the IoT ecosystem (acquiring roles in the application and service areas, for example), the upside could be quite substantial.