D2D Planned for Mass Adoption within Industrial IoT within 18 Months
Viasat, Inc. , a global leader in satellite communications, today announced its new report which shows rising urgency among decision-makers to adopt D2D IoT devices within their organizations.
The report – The Great Connectivity Convergence: NTN in Industrial IoT – was conducted by Vanson Bourne and surveyed 600 IoT decision-makers from five major industries: agriculture, energy, transport and logistics, mining and utilities. The survey asked professionals about new D2D IoT devices, which enable organizations to track, monitor, and control operations by sharing data over satellite and cellular without the need for existing, dedicated satellite terminals.
D2D coming to IoT
The vast majority (90%) of those surveyed agree that D2D will accelerate the roll-out of IoT globally. Current terrestrial IoT users are particularly keen to tap into the technology, with almost a third (32%) planning to adopt D2D within the next 6 months. However, while intent is high, most respondents (81%) say adoption in IoT would only be feasible after the next 1-2 years.
Across all IoT decision-makers surveyed, over a quarter intend to adopt D2D within 6 months, over two-thirds within 12 months, and the vast majority (91%) within 18 months. On top of this, 89% of organizations say they would consider replacing their current IoT connectivity with D2D within the next 2–3 years.
Industrial potential and high confidence
Respondents report high confidence that new applications can have significant benefits, with respondents reporting D2D could provide an advantage due to its smaller form factor (61%), ability to support large scale deployments (59%), and in deployments in areas without cellular coverage (55%).
The most beneficial use cases provided through D2D include crop storage monitoring in agriculture (33%), automated haulage vehicles in mining (36%), vehicular tracking and route optimization in transport (43%), water infrastructure monitoring in utilities (43%), and wellhead monitoring in energy (33%).
Existing IoT roll-out continues at pace
Within their existing IoT roll-out, 78% of respondents say their organizations’ progress has increased over the past 12 months. Organizations are also increasingly integrating satellite into their deployments. In this year’s survey, more than half of organizations (55%) reported using satellite in their IoT estates, a rise from the 41% reported in 2024’s survey.
Andy Kessler, Vice President, Enterprise at Viasat said: “Organizations are rightly excited by the potential for standards-based D2D and are planning to deploy new technology quickly, and at scale. The excitement makes sense because we know new devices can lower the barrier to entry for organizations by reducing the cost, complexity, and physical size of IoT terminals. But while companies rightly want to move fast, the change represents a major shift. It’s our job to work with our partner ecosystem and customers to help them access the safety, efficiency, and sustainability benefits satellite-enabled IoT can bring.”