A thing is just a thing until it’s connected. And then it becomes smarter. More exciting. More insightful.

We’ve been in the business of connecting “things” since 2008. Connected devices can make life easier, safer, and more productive and convenient. In fact, by the end of last year, we’d connected over 30 million devices on our network.

From race cars and shipping containers to cities and soil, our goal is connect it all. Even more, we want to help you connect your things everywhere.

So, we’re zeroing in on how we can help businesses take better advantage of the Internet of Things (IoT).

As the world gets flatter, we know seamless IoT connectivity isn’t just something businesses want. It’s something they need to stay competitive. Research shows that 40% of global companies need IoT support in 3 or more countries while nearly two-thirds of global companies need U.S. coverage.1

Our Global SIMs already let businesses easily connect IoT solutions in more than 200 countries and territories. But some IoT connections must integrate with a local network. We now have 600+ carrier relationships around the globe to give our business customers deeper access to those local networks.

Just this week we announced 2 new relationships with Bridge Alliance and local service provider China Mobile. Working with Bridge Alliance will help our customers grow the number of their connected cars on the road across the globe. These collaborations will open the door for our customers to access local operator networks in Asia Pacific, the Middle East and Africa.

On top of expanding network coverage, we’re turning up connectivity that’s built for IoT with LTE-M. This Low-Power Wide-Area network is great for large-scale IoT deployments. It’s a lower cost choice with a longer battery life and better in-building coverage – all with carrier-grade security.

We’re on track to roll out LTE-M in the U.S. by the end of Q2 and in Mexico by the end of this year. This expansion will cover nearly 400 million people across North America. We’re also working with operators to help businesses deploying global IoT solutions take advantage of the benefits of LTE-M.

LTE-M isn’t the only thing we’re bringing to the U.S. and Mexico. Our commitment to making cities smarter is expanding in North America and worldwide. We just announced a deal with Current, powered by GE, naming AT&T as the exclusive reseller of their intelligent sensor nodes in the U.S. and Mexico. AT&T Smart Cities is also working with Dublin City and IDA Ireland to bring our IoT expertise and smart cities framework to Ireland.

Global IoT connections are projected to increase 4.5x by 2025 across a variety of industries. And, we’re doing our part to make that happen. 2

With the new Avnet Global LTE IoT Starter Kit, developers around the world have the tools they need to jumpstart their IoT projects.

Our full suite of services helps businesses design, test, deploy and manage IoT solutions globally. Our experts can help businesses of all sizes with our Professional Services for the Internet of Things.

At AT&T, our goal is to connect people and businesses to their world, anywhere that might be. When you decide the time is right to put IoT to work for you, think big. We sure are, and we’ll be right here to help you reach your global IoT ambitions.  

Chris Penrose - Senior Vice President of AT&T’s IoT Organization

Chris Penrose
Chris Penrose President of Internet of Things Solutions