IoT in 2026: What To Consider | Com4's Martin Nord | Internet of Things Podcast

Speaker A: Welcome to the IoT for All podcast. Or I guess I should say, welcome Back to the IoT for All podcast. Appreciate you coming back and chatting with me again.

Speaker B: Hi Ryan and thanks for having me again.

Speaker A: Yeah, it's great to have you. Uh, before we jump into some of these questions around the topics I know we want to talk about, I think for our audience who may have not seen our previous episodes that we've done together, just give a quick introduction about yourself and the company so they can kind of get caught up.

Speaker B: I've been in my role as Chief Technology and product officer at Comfor since 2019. Uh, prior to that I, uh, was with a large Nordic mobile network operator and at Com4, uh, we spent the last one and a half decade building a full stack MVNO. This means we own the entire technology stack, the core, the building, the SIEM management platform. So our customers aren't just buying a SIM card, they're actually buying a strategy for global reliability. So in short, uh, we help enterprises navigate the transition from legacy IoT meaning to 2G, 3G to the next 5G AI era, so to speak. And of course being an MVNO, this includes a strong roaming portfolio but also a number of other aspects like data center, the IT stack, the IP network, the mobile network. So we focus heavily on the boring but critical stuff, robustness, uptime, security, compliance and also long term, long term financial stability. Uh, because at Comfort we believe that IoT partnerships is more like 10 year old, 10 uh, year long, um, infrastructure, marriage, more than a transactional purchase. So my goal today is to help listeners understand how to build for that kind of longevity, uh, rather than just chasing the lowest units price.

Speaker A: Let me ask you a question about your customers. So tell us what like a typical customer engagement looks like. So when an Enterprise IoT buyer comes to you, what's the most common thing that they think they need maybe versus what they actually need after you've spoken with them? Like where does that gap tend to be and what does that relationship usually kind of how does it behave?

Speaker B: I guess I think our role is to fill the gap between what the customers should be asking and what they initially request and that can be different. For a small enterprise the initial request can be hey, uh, would like a quotation for 10 um, SIM cards that needs coverage. In Italy, uh, for the larger enterprises you can meet a uh, procurement officer, uh, with um, Expert knowledge on IoT connectivity market and issue uh, uh, a tender with a large set of requirements. In the latter case they do know a lot about IoT connectivity. But we can engage in a conversation um, in order to weigh in on what is more most important for them, um, including total cost of ownership. So in both cases through conversations we build joint understanding of what is important for them, the customer. Like geographies, coverage, power, data consumption or data, uh, yeah, and also security and compliance. And this allows us to recommend a solution.

Speaker A: One thing I did want to ask you kind of about where you all sit in the market. So the connectivity space obviously has been changing ever since IoT for all has existed and we've covered all the different types of connectivity technology. We've talked about the landscape many times but as it currently sits today, uh, I guess to people who are new to the market it can feel very crowded. So there's MNOs, MVNOs, satellite players, private LTE, you name it. Break it down for us on what the market really looks like from your perspective, where you all sit and which type of I guess customers maybe are not the right fit for you if they're doing maybe something unique and different that doesn't fit within the scope of kind of that end to end, uh, stack that you're offering. Just talk about that whole landscape and where you all play and kind of fit into that.

Speaker B: I think in short, comfort wins on long term operational robustness, not on um, dirt cheap commodity pricing. IoT is a long term commitment. Uh, so customers wanting to choose a provider only on unit price that can lead to selecting operators with more a fire and forget model. Uh, and this creates or potentially creates massive liabilities when things go wrong later, if they go wrong. For us our Nordic heritage is not just a background, it's a culture of reliability. So we do invest heavily nowadays in private data centers, a brand new Nokia 5G standalone core, uh, a new COM4 Polaris CMP or connectivity management platform and also invest in our people, uh, ensuring that when you need support or advice in complex cases you get to talk to experts very soon and you're not left talking to a chatbot. So if you need uh, a long term partnership, uh, you need a partner that will still be here and be profitable in seven to 10 years. Having said that about reliability, uh, we also of course focus on offering a very good value for money. So we leverage um, the purchasing power over the wireless logic group of which we are part and this enables us to get attractive prices, uh, that we can pass on and offer good value for money to our customers.

Speaker A: It's always been an interesting space and then a lot of times when we have conversations outside of the Podcast get a lot of questions just generally about the landscape and where companies fit, who should I be working with and how to kind of make that decision on who best to work with. So it's very helpful to kind of break it down a little bit more and understand specifically for this conversation where you all fit and kind of where the value is that you see in your engagements with customers.

Speaker B: IoT MNOs that's mostly about sims and data subscriptions. We can also be a good fit if you want a one stop shop, uh, if you want more um, more uh, offerings, um, I mean we have satellite based broadband offerings and we can deliver you know, connectivity in various ways. We also sell hardware, um, and as I mentioned we can contribute um, in advisory processes. So sometimes it makes sense for a customer to have knowledge that okay, I start off with this, this type of connectivity but if, if I want to do something more, I can ask my existing supplier if they can offer that as well. And sometimes it makes sense for them.

Speaker A: Let me ask you about 2G 3G sunsetting. We've talked about this in the past, but it's been quite a while since we've covered it and it seems like, you know, especially in Europe and you know, around the world companies are having to switch off a 2G and 3G um, and they're all based around different timelines around, based on the regions that they're in and I guess obviously for the companies themselves. So if a customer has tons and tons of legacy devices in the field, what does a migration look like like off of that? Right. And what does the cost look like? What's the process look like? What are the potential, I guess speed bumps that they likely will encounter that are good to know ahead of time so they can plan for. Um, and how do you all work specifically with customers to help minimize any headaches, cost time and so forth?

Speaker B: It's a good time to revisit the question. Um, I think for comfort and our customer base we have actually the worst behind us now because there have been a number of shutdowns in the countries and regions where uh, we have the highest fleet. And I think what we learned along the way is that the cost of migration isn't just the price of having to buy a new module if that is needed, or the field personnel having to go out to replace the legacy devices. It's also the cost of operational disruptions because many customers, they really um, appreciate that the service is up and that's their commitment to their customers. And our playbook is from the start at least from early days, um, designed to make that cost effectively zero, close to zero. We have for many years uh, guided customers to future proof solutions. So select devices that supports 4G and configure them to make use of it. We strive to navigate the roaming such that okay, in a country maybe one or two operators shut down Sunset their 2G network, the 3G network. Typically there's one network operator that uh, offers this uh, connectivity 2G, 3G for uh, a number of years, like three to five years in addition. So then it's important to have access to those networks to give customers more time uh, to adapt. And to give you some examples and figures, uh, I think already when I started in comfort back in 2019 I um, was surprised uh, and impressed that more than 80% of uh, the devices used by our customers was 4G devices. Um, so this reduces the need for emergency uh, replacement scenario. And on top of that we have customers, large uh, customers with hundreds of thousands of devices in the field supporting devices supported 2G and 4G and through discussions we advise them to enable uh the 4G part of it over there. So they uh, configure their firmware to make use of that 4G uh connectivity and it was a substantial job for them but that removed the problem altogether. And a final remark can be that if I mean the cases where there's no way around it, I uh, don't have exact figures but you can think of it a bit differently. It's like if you in 2026 and beyond have two G only devices, I think uh, you also have a security challenge because that means the device is probably outdated and a replacement may be mandated by other reasons than just the sunset. So depends about how you think about it I guess.

Speaker A: You mentioned roaming. Let me ask you about that because it's something that I'm kind of curious to learn a little bit more from how you are viewing it around I guess just what are the hardest roaming problems that you're currently focused on or come across on a regular basis and what really needs to be done on the roaming side to I guess lessen the burden that it might create through some of these problems.

Speaker B: The problem is to have a method of consistently delivering roaming on all radio access technologies with access to several networks all around the world and including permanent roaming for some cases. And uh, with our experience there's a lot of moving parts in this and no solution is ever perfect. So our strategy is to maximize success rate uh, by making robust choices, work systematically over time and to be able to focus on challenges as they arise. There are a number of things we do then in practice it's continuously work on roaming agreements including making commercial uh, investments to find solutions for permanent roaming. Uh, it can be commitments or discuss use cases or customer types with operators. Um, here we can leverage the scale of the group to a certain extent. We also advise the customers to use devices with LTE or LTE Cat1B support. If you know true global roaming um, is uh, their preference since this is the technologies that roaming is mostly deployed on worldwide. As a standard we offer sims with multimc support to make use, to easily make use of all these roaming agreements in the best way and also ESIM cards so that you can effectively turn a SIM into a quite different SIM with a new by downloading and enabling an operating profile. And if you then also have you know a library of operating profiles with access, uh, that can help resolve the situations. So we have examples of that. I think the library is still being uh, enhanced as to speak. And in this process it's good to be part of the Wireless Strategy Group which has subsidiaries in many countries and that can you know, help get the agreements needed. And to your question about you know, the particular challenges, um, I think I'd like to highlight that we have recently resolved LTE permanent roaming challenges uh, for projects in countries like UK, US and Switzerland. And I do believe with SGP32 we will continue to find solutions as they arise. Um, the problematic countries are the usual suspects in these kinds of conversations like Turkey and China. And um, I advise our customers or potential customers to reach out and discuss your needs if you have such scenarios. But it's a set of moving parts. So anyone claiming they have solved it all, they um, are optimistic.

Speaker A: Absolutely. And I totally agree with you. What about on the security side? What do you see as kind of, I guess for customers that you work with, is there an area of kind of their approach to security or maybe their view of security that they consistently underestimate? And how do you kind of address those common security problems or exposures or vulnerabilities I guess if you will, that you kind of encounter with the companies that you work with?

Speaker B: Well as you point out, security is not an IT bolt on, it's a foundational feature of the connectivity itself. Um, I think it would be very exciting to follow and drive the security space in the years ahead. Uh, I think that today um, the typical problems are still the classical ones. Um, companies still leave the devices with public IPs and default passwords. They don't make it a priority to upgrade firmware to have the latest security patches and that can happen and make them easy targets. To your question, a minimum uh viable security posture can mean at least for some customer cases move away from public IPs to private IPs in private private APNs with dedicated encrypted channels, um tunnels. And when we look forward we aim to implement zero trust approaches in collaboration with the cybersecurity team of the customer organizations. And this can further lock down the attackers ability to do harm.

Speaker A: If you were to bet on one connectivity technology or capability that maybe a lot of companies are not really focused on right now but is going to matter a lot in the next five years, what would that be? Um, and just kind of talk me through that.

Speaker B: Yeah. If I could cheat a little bit uh, I'd say that the combination of SGP32, the IoT RSP and regulatory compliance like uh Nistu here in EU will uh define the next five years. Everybody in this industry talks about the cool tech, us included. But the real winner I think will be the provider who can bridge the gap between delivering capabilities uh of the new standards turning it into a product with go to market models and that and the strict and evolving government regulations. So um, at our end we're doing a lot of work now to we have invested heavily um in our new 5G SA core. Uh we have the new Polaris CMP um that helps us fulfill these requirements um and we also put in substantial efforts in providing the evidence of security that regulators now demand. You have to uh, in a structured way show how you meet uh the requirements and it's hard work. Um it is but it's the only way to scale sustainably and succeed in the next five years.

Speaker A: Now the last thing I wanted to ask you just because I feel like this is a topic that has been on people's mind and is even more relevant today is around non terrestrial networks, satellites, how do you view their role in the space? So is it like a genuine complement to terrestrial IoT or is it more hype for most use cases or what is your view just holistically on it?

Speaker B: I don't think it is a hype. I think there is substance there. Um, I think indeed at comfort we think it's a complement to terrestrial IoT but of course not required or suitable for all use cases. We believe in it to the extent that we have invested in access to leading LEO NTN networks and we are very interested in engaging in projects with this. So early days for sure, um, devices coming out with interesting support for lpwa, LTE and ntn. It solves the remote geography problem but you still need terrestrial IoT for volume and cost and in particular makes sense maritime sector, offshore sector and remote areas even in you know countries like US and Canada. Agritech um solutions may need coverage in the Midwest uh, where nobody is actually living. So regular cellular connectivity doesn't get you covered there. So we think satellite can be a good uh supplement of course NTN as you asked but also other LEO types connectivity like more broadband type like Starlink. So we do offer um a service called global managed leo uh to assist large corporations make um, use of um Starlink connectivity as well.

Speaker A: You mentioned this sort of at the beginning about round financial stability for organizations and basically what are the signals that customers need to be evaluating when they're picking a connectivity partner. So what are the questions that these customers, potential customers should be asking connectivity partners around the financial stability of the company just prior to any type of engagement to make sure that they can I guess align on long term success?

Speaker B: I think once the customer realizes that financial stability of your provider is the ultimate insurance policy for their project's continuity and longevity, uh, then they can start asking a lot of interesting question. So when they evaluate a partner don't just ask for the cheapest SIM price. Ask them is your business model built on sustainable profitability or just VC fueled growth? Because uh, over the years that climate can change, uh, interest rates can be higher, um, investors can become impatient. So um, I'd ask to you know discuss the business model of the supplier um, and ask questions. What's the legacy? Uh, do you have technical debt? Do you have funding to make the necessary investments to, to cover 5G? Will you support enhanced red cap or red cap in the next years? Will you do the R D necessary to support um, AI capabilities? Um, there are no more questions to be asked and I don't have them all but starting that conversation can show you that uh, whether this is a ah horse to bet on or a long term partner then yeah, definitely a

Speaker A: topic that needs to come up for sure which maybe sometimes it doesn't. So um, great points, really appreciate you taking the time. This was an awesome conversation for our audience who wants to learn more about what you all are doing. Maybe stay in touch or even follow up after this. Uh, listening to this. What's the best way they can do that?

Speaker B: Well uh, I recommend the classical way of checking uh out our website comfort. No. Uh, and there you'll find a lot of use cases and descriptions of the technologies, or you can find us on LinkedIn or. Yeah, um, connect with me. Um, and we will respond to any questions or inquiries.

Speaker A: Really appreciate the time and look forward to getting this out to our audience.

Speaker B: Thank you for having me, Ryan.