Cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) / Internet of Things (IoT) service revenue in South Korea is set to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.6% from $578 million in 2024 to about $900 million in 2029.
The growth will be driven by 5G advancements, expanding digital infrastructure, and increasing efforts by telcos to drive new M2M/IoT use cases, forecasts GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.
GlobalData’s South Korea Mobile Broadband Forecast (Q3 2025) reveals that the country already has high 5G penetration levels of about 130% as of 2024, which is proving to be crucial for the expansion of M2M/IoT services. Government initiatives promoting digital transformation and government backed smart manufacturing programs will also boost the demand for M2M/IoT connectivity in the country over the forecast period.
The government’s smart manufacturing program aims to increase the adoption of automation, AI, and IoT across industries, including manufacturing, textiles, and automotive. The government also provides financial incentives to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to embrace these technologies, accelerating the transformation. For instance, the government announced the launch of a $2.2 million smart factory initiative this year to encourage food processing SMEs to adopt smart manufacturing operations.
Neha Mishra, Telecom Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The evolving use cases for M2M/IoT across industries like manufacturing, healthcare, agriculture, transportation etc., and digital infrastructure applications like smart cities, smart buildings, and smart grids with telcos’ too offering connectivity plans targeted at these applications will lend traction to the M2M/IoT market.”
For example, in July 2025, KT partnered with US-based technology company Trimble to deliver an unified positioning and correction services solution designed for vehicles with advanced driver assistance systems and vehicle-to-everything capabilities. This enables improved connectivity, driving greater effectiveness across a variety of applications, including IoT deployments such as smart city infrastructure, advanced field robotics and software-defined vehicles.
Mishra adds: “SK Telecom is poised to lead the M2M/IoT services market in South Korea by subscriber share through 2029, thanks to its investments in 5G and IoT technologies and strong focus on enterprise segment. The company’s M2M/IoT offerings in areas like smart utilities and connected transportation help the operator leverage opportunities in the market.”
Increasing demand for reliable, high data rate and low-latency connectivity for enterprise-grade IoT deployments is poised to significantly reshape the mobile services landscape in the country.
Mishra concludes:
“Operators that focus on improving network reliability for IoT applications and bundle customized data-centric IoT services such as device management platforms and tailored industry solutions will be well-positioned to capitalize on the trend and unlock long-term revenue potential.”
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