Is global cellular IoT connectivity ready for the made-for-IoT era?

At this year’s MWC Barcelona, mobile operators pushed a fresh round of messaging around AI-heavy workloads, low-latency applications and the role of 5G in supporting them. The conversation framed a shift toward a so‑called “made‑for‑IoT” era, where connectivity is supposed to match the specific needs of connected devices rather than simply extend consumer mobile networks.

Behind the buzz, the core question remains whether global cellular infrastructure, roaming models and commercial terms are actually set up to support large-scale IoT deployments. Operators see new profit opportunities in industrial, automotive and other connected use cases, but turning those into reliable, predictable services worldwide will depend on how quickly they can adapt networks, tariffs and service agreements to the realities of IoT rather than traditional mobile traffic.