COREDUMP #005: The Current Realities of Cellular IoT

In today’s Coredump Session, we zoom in on the rapidly evolving world of cellular IoT—what’s working, what’s changing, and what developers should know. With expert insight from Fabien Korheim of ONES, the conversation breaks down MVNOs vs MNOs, dives into certification hurdles, explores connectivity trade-offs like NB-IoT vs LTE-M, and unpacks why cellular is quietly powering more devices than you think. Whether you’re building metering devices or baby monitors, this one hits the full stack—from tech to business models.

Key Takeaways:

• MVNOs simplify global IoT deployments by abstracting regional carrier relationships and reducing SKU complexity.
• LTE-M is currently the safest bet for low-power cellular applications, with 5G RedCap positioned as a future alternative.
• Certification processes are lighter with MVNOs, especially when using pre-approved modules.
• Cellular IoT is ideal where Wi-Fi isn’t guaranteed, like basements, forests, and mobile tracking.
• Consumer IoT has huge untapped potential—cellular can dramatically improve usability and reduce returns.
• Battery life and data costs are major design considerations, especially when scaling fleets globally.
• Multiradio devices and smart fallback strategies (e.g. BLE/Wi-Fi + Cellular) are becoming more common.
• Debugging tools and observability platforms are essential for maintaining reliability across networks, devices, and regions.