According to the GSMA report, greater China will have 4.1 billion IIoT connections by that year
Greater China is expected to reach 4.1 billion industrial internet of things (IIoT) connections by 2025, according to a new report by the GSMA.
The report, dubbed “The Industrial IoT in Greater China,” is based on interviews with mobile operators including Asia Pacific Telecom Group, China Mobile, China Telecom, China Unicom, Far EasTone and Taiwan Mobile.
GSMA Intelligence estimates that there will be 13.8 billion IIoT connections globally by 2025. Connections in Greater China will represent a third of the global market.
“These new technologies will fundamentally alter the way we live and work, intelligently connecting virtually every device, making our cities smarter and our lives easier and more productive,” said Alex Sinclair, CTO of the GSMA. “China is betting big on the IIoT to increase productivity and drive efficiencies by streamlining and automating manufacturing processes via internet connectivity. Backed by positive government support, China is set to become the world’s leader.”
The GSMA highlighted that the IIoT will increase productivity by combining artificial intelligence (AI), cloud computing and advanced analytics to automate manufacturing processes via internet connectivity. This technology will also enable factories to monitor and interpret data from production lines and complex machinery in real time to anticipate faults, manage infrastructure and mitigate risk, the GSMA added.
The captured data will help firms to optimize productivity and decrease costs in many important economic sectors beyond manufacturing, such as energy and telecoms.
The Chinese government has been taking actions to boost the adoption of Industrial IoT in the country.
In 2015, the government outlined its “Made in China 2025” strategy, which aims to boost manufacturing innovation, including the IoT, smart appliances and high-end consumer electronics. The government also unveiled its “Internet Plus Action Plan” in 2015 to integrate the internet with traditional industries and create a new engine for economic growth.
The GSMA also noted that China’s mobile operators will play a fundamental role in these developments by providing reliability connectivity to businesses and enterprises across the country.
The GSMA’s IoT Program is working closely with all operators, as well as other vendors in the ecosystem, to support and help accelerate the delivery of secure IoT solutions including Low Power Wide Area (LPWA) networks, such as LTE-M and narrowband IoT, which are helping to usher in innovative new services across the country. LTE-M and NB-IoT will play a key role in the development of 5G networks and massive IoT, which will enable smart cities, industrial automation and other applications involving large numbers of connected devices, GSMA said.
Earlier this year, Chinese authorities announced plans to expand the country’s demonstration program for smart manufacturing by adding about 100 pilot projects during 2018. According to Chinese press, the Chinese government is making additional efforts to implement smart manufacturing projects in sectors including raw materials, equipment, consumer goods and electronics.
The smart manufacturing pilot program initially started in 2015 as a measure to promote intelligent manufacturing. The government selected more than 60 projects in 2016 and 97 projects in 2017.
According to a smart manufacturing plan for the 2016-2020 period, China will improve the foundation and supporting capability of its manufacturing base and work to realize the digitization of major fields in the traditional manufacturing sectors by 2020.
