LoRaWAN sees global growth with over 350m nodes in 2024

The LoRa Alliance has published its 2024 End of Year Report, showcasing significant milestones and industry trends in LoRaWAN deployment and connectivity.

The report indicates a growing market presence with over 350 million LoRaWAN end nodes and 6.9 million gateways deployed globally by mid-2024. This reflects LoRaWAN's advancement as a leading low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technology. The report also highlights that LoRaWAN is actively used by major companies such as Starbucks, Volvo, Chevron, Chick-fil-A, and Logitech.

Alper Yegin, Chief Executive Officer of the LoRa Alliance, commented on the successful year, stating, "2024 was in many ways a watershed year for digital transformation and broad adoption of Internet of Things, which bridges the physical and digital worlds." He emphasized the necessity of digital transformation for societal progress, adding, "We believe that digital transformation is necessary for humanity's evolution, with immense potential to help people and the planet while driving economic growth."

Yegin further noted, "Over the past few years, LoRaWAN has cemented its position as a foundational and market-leading LPWAN technology. Backed by our global ecosystem, we are making Massive IoT a reality and are rapidly scaling deployments. The future is bright for LoRaWAN and as an Alliance we will remain focused on expanding our ecosystem, continuing to educate the market and build awareness, as well as ongoing technology enhancements to the standard to accelerate adoption."

In strengthening its non-terrestrial network offerings, LoRaWAN's capability has been extended by three commercial service providers, enhancing its global connectivity reach beyond terrestrial networks. This development positions LoRaWAN as a competitive technology in NTN coverage.

The report finds resonant validation from industry analysts. Omdia projects that LPWAN connections will exceed 3.5 billion by 2030, attributed significantly to LoRaWAN's support and integration.

Members of the LoRa Alliance reported impressive growth figures, notably Actility with 4 million connected devices and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) exceeding 50%, and The Things Industries recording 2.7 million connected devices with 50% year-on-year growth. ZENNER reported deployment of over 9 million devices.

The organisation has developed its certification programme, introducing a LoRaWAN Web Certification System and a new self-certification option, simplifying the process and reducing costs.

Further achievements cited in the report include publications by Beecham Research on LoRaWAN adoption in Smart Cities, Smart Buildings, and Smart Logistics, enhancing its reputation as a robust standard.

Developments in LoRaWAN standards continue, with works in progress on gateway and application server standardizations, mobile gateway development, and updates on regional parameters and technical specifications. Efforts are also ongoing to harmonize spectrum regulation for LoRaWAN networks, including satellite use.