Why IoT Requires a Cloud-Based, Virtualized Core Network
Nobody yet knows how many internet of things devices will need to be connected by 2020, using mobile and other local networks. Mobile connections, compared to the 2014 level, could be 22 times to 41 times larger. The total number of IoT connections, including devices using other local connections such as Wi-Fi, could be 12 times the 2014 number, or up to 28 times larger.
The other clear observation is that use cases will span a rather wide range of network resource requirements, requirements for mobility, latency, signaling and throughput. That is one reason why cloud-native and virtualized packet core networks are deemed essential for IoT supported by 5G networks. There are simply clear use cases that use different combinations of network-provided resources.