Verizon to launch 4G LTE Category M1 nationwide network for IoT on Friday, with wireless data costs starting at $2 per month, per device
Chipsets for Cat M1 low-power devices have dropped drastically in the past year — Verizon on Friday will launch a nationwide wireless network designed …
Context & Ripple Effects
Verizon first committed to an LTE CAT-M rollout in September 2016, projecting the low-power network would serve an estimated 700 million IoT devices by 2021 (that initial rollout plan). Friday's launch makes it nationwide, with entry pricing of $2 per device per month and chipsets for Cat M1 hardware having fallen sharply over the past year.
The launch sets up a direct pricing contest in low-power IoT connectivity: a year later, T-Mobile countered with an NB-IoT plan at $6 per year per device, which it claimed was roughly one-tenth the cost of Verizon's Cat-M plans (T-Mobile's NB-IoT counterpunch).
First-order effects
- IoT device makers gain a nationwide low-power LTE option from day one, with connectivity priced from $2 per device per month — cheap enough to embed in high-volume deployments.
- Verizon converts its 2016 CAT-M commitment into a live commercial product, giving it a head start on the projected 700-million-device market before rivals' networks reach national scale.
Second-order effects
- T-Mobile's response — an NB-IoT plan at $6 per year pitched as one-tenth Verizon's Cat-M cost — shows competitors forced into aggressive per-device price cuts rather than feature competition.
- Falling Cat M1 chipset prices plus sub-$2-per-month service compress the total bill of materials for connected devices, widening the pool of products that are economical to connect.
Third-order effects
- If per-device pricing keeps collapsing across carriers, cellular IoT connectivity becomes a commodity line item, shifting carrier value toward network scale and adjacent services — the pattern visible as Verizon layers 5G broadband and mobile offerings on top of its LTE base.
- Carrier competition between licensed low-power standards (Cat M1 vs. NB-IoT) points toward a market where enterprises choose ecosystems on price and coverage, pressuring operators to standardize nationally before selling regionally.
The trend: Cellular IoT connectivity is moving from niche pilots to nationwide, commodity-priced utility services, with carriers racing to lock in device volume before per-device prices bottom out.