What is advancing in IoT?
eSIM has moved from a specialist option to a mainstream requirement, with eSIM profiles now expected at scale rather than treated as the exception. New eSIM technologies, such as SGP.32, are a hygiene factor rather than a nice-to-have. LPWAN technologies, such as NB-IoT and LTE-M, are mature enough that silicon, modules and operator coverage no longer hold back deployments. And LEO satellites are closing the coverage gaps that have always limited cellular IoT in remote, marine and infrastructure use cases. The network itself is rarely the constraint anymore. The harder problems have shifted to device management, billing and the commercial model behind a deployment.
New possibilities
Things that were operationally awkward two years ago are now routine. A reseller can put a multi-network eSIM into a consumer device shipped globally, with the same SIM working reliably in Manchester and Madrid without the customer ever touching it. Cellular failover for life-critical equipment, alarms and lifts is now well understood, which matters as the PSTN switch-off forces a hard deadline of January 2027. And LEO satellite gives resellers a credible answer for sites that simply have no usable mobile signal, rather than telling the customer it cannot be done.
In demand
Demand is dominated by solutions to the PSTN switch-off problem. Cellular routers and SIMs for alarms, lifts, telecare, ATMs, EV charging and digital signage are moving in real volume. Multi-network SIMs and eSIMs are increasingly the default request rather than the upsell. On the way out, 2G and 3G connectivity is being phased out as networks switch off the underlying radio. Single-network SIMs are losing ground because customers have learned the hard way what happens when one operator suffers a regional outage. Bespoke M2M arrangements that lock the reseller out of margin are also fading.
Partnerships
Channel-only matters more than it sounds. A supplier that also sells direct will eventually meet the reseller in front of an end customer, and that conversation rarely ends well for the reseller. Beyond that, look for breadth across cellular, eSIM and satellite under one contract, a self-serve portal that does not require a ticket for every change, and billing flexibility that accommodates unusual deployment shapes. The strongest signal of a good partner is whether they actively help resellers find IoT opportunities within their existing customer base. At Jola, we built our MRG process specifically for this. The opportunity for most resellers lies within the customers they already manage, and the job of a good IoT partner is to help them uncover it.
The future
The PSTN switch-off will dominate the next eighteen months and probably extend well into 2028, because many sites will still be running on copper by the deadline. Multi-network eSIM will become the default for any deployment of meaningful size, with single-operator SIMs treated as a legacy choice. Satellite IoT will move from a specialist niche to a standard line item on resellers' price lists, and Amazon LEO will give the market a credible alternative to Starlink. The reseller opportunity will continue to shift from finding new IoT customers to uncovering IoT use cases within the customer base they already serve.
About Jola
Jola is an award-winning, supplier of business communications, specialising in mobile data SIMs. Jola sells on a wholesale basis to MSPs, ISPs, IT support companies and telecommunications resellers. These channel partners supply solutions to public sector organisations and enterprises worldwide.
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