米国調査会社ナビガントリサーチ（Navigant Research）の調査レポート「電力事業者、水道事業者、ガス事業者用途の省電力広域ネットワーク（LPWA）のマーケットデータ：LoRa、Sigfox、NB-IoT、RPMA、LTE-Cat-M1：導入数、出荷数、世界の収益」は、スマート計測などの用途でのLPWAネットワークの採用が拡大する公益事業者の投資によって、通信ノードの採用数と売上げが大きく成長すると予測している。LoRa、Sigfox、Narrowband-Internet of Things (NB-IoT)、Random Phase Multiple Access (RPMA)、Long-Term Evolution Category M1 (LTE-Cat-M1)の５つのLPWAプロトコルのLPWA通信ノードとインフラストラクチャの採用を詳細に概観し、エクセルデータブックで提供している。プロトコル毎、公益事業者タイプ毎、地域毎に市場を区分して、約100の図と45の表で提供している。

Low power wide area (LPWA) networking protocols are changing the game for utilities worldwide—in particular water and gas utilities—thanks to their relatively low costs and long battery life. Navigant Research expects as LPWA solutions gain traction, they will accelerate the adoption of smart metering and other distribution network applications by all types and sizes of electric, water, and gas utilities.

Water utilities are anticipated to make the widest use of LPWA solutions over the next decade, followed by gas utilities. Water utilities will be driven by a need for better water conservation and to reduce losses, while gas utility deployments will be motivated by safety concerns, regulatory mandates, and cost savings. Use of LPWA solutions by electric utilities will often apply to high device volume applications such as asset monitoring in developed markets (where smart metering networks have already been deployed), and they may be used for metering combined with other grid applications in emerging markets.