LoRa Alliance® Issues 2023 Annual Report

The LoRa Alliance®, the global association of companies backing the open LoRaWAN®standard for IoT low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs), issued its 2023 End of Year Report. It highlights the LoRa Alliance’s incredible achievements throughout the year, in addition to providing updates on LoRaWAN deployments, technology, and certification advancements.

Trends highlighted in the 2023 report include:

• LoRaWAN is seeing strong global deployment growth across several vertical markets, including smart buildings, utilities, cities, agriculture, and industry.
• The Alliance actively diversifies its collaborative ecosystem, driving end-to-end IoT solutions.
• Deployments are delivering strong ROI, which in turn is accelerating the decision-making process for new users and projects.
• Smart cities are increasingly requiring LoRaWAN-certified end devices in their RFPs.
• LoRaWAN took a leadership position in Industry 5.0 as it meets the sustainability, efficiency, and quality-of-life requirements.
• The benefits and ROI of LoRaWAN deployments are exponential when end users collaborate with system integrators and solution providers.
• LoRaWAN leads the satellite-based LPWAN communications market, with its member companies advancing satellite networking and rapidly expanding deployments in the sector.
• The Alliance is meeting the emerging workforce needs of the IoT with its LoRaWAN Accredited Professional program, giving end users confidence in the vendors they select.

“In 2023, key end markets such as cities, buildings, and utilities widely embraced LoRaWAN and the ROI it provides, leading to large-scale deployments that sparked further innovation in use cases,” stated Donna Moore, CEO and Chairwoman of the LoRa Alliance. “The demand for certified LoRaWAN devices within these essential sectors continues to grow as it is critical for massive device rollouts. Confidence in LoRaWAN was further reinforced through our Accredited Professional program, which addresses end users’ desire for a way to evaluate vendors’ knowledge of the development and implementation of LoRaWAN. As the leader in global LPWAN deployments, we anticipate an even stronger year in 2024.”

“We continued to see strong growth globally in IoT deployments in 2023, with LoRaWAN established as the market leader in LPWANs,” said Robin Duke-Woolley, CEO and Chief Analyst, Beecham Research. “With its established and active ecosystem, considerable involvement of system integrators and solution providers, and expansive features, including connectivity via satellite, we expect LoRaWAN will see strong growth again in 2024 as the IoT continues to mature.”

Other highlights from the 2023 report:

• IEC and CEN standards validated LoRaWAN for smart metering, building on earlier OMS Group and DLMS-UA adoptions and further strengthening LoRaWAN’s ability to meet this market’s specialized requirements.
• Two Technical Recommendations were released improving and augmenting LoRaWAN functionality, including using Carrier Sense Multiple Access (CSMA) to increase network capacity and Multicast D2D communication for direct over-the-air communication between devices.
• Several FAQ documents were issued to strengthen users’ understanding of recent enhancements to the LoRaWAN specification, including payload codec API, relay, IPv6 adaptation layer, and security.
• Pre-testing of firmware updates over the air (FUOTA) and relay specifications using the LoRaWAN Certification Test Tool (LCTT) were enabled, along with new reporting features.
• The Interoperability Work Group developed tools and procedures to test and certify interoperability between LoRaWAN network elements and built an interoperability testbed architecture.
• Beecham Research conducted an extensive study focusing on networking technologies for smart cities, buildings, and utilities, releasing two reports offering valuable insights into the evolving landscape of IoT in these markets:
  • Briefing for IoT Solution Specialists: Using LoRaWAN in Smart Buildings, Cities, and Utilities to educate system integrators and solution providers, available exclusively to LoRa Alliance members; and
  • User Guide to Research of Key IoT Sectors: Smart Buildings, Cities, Utilities, which noted LoRaWAN’s global LPWAN leadership, issued publicly.