AT&T and Cisco recently commercialized an IoT platform specifically linked to the carrier’s nationwide 5G standalone (SA) network, highlighting the evolving technical nature and increased networking capabilities of IoT systems.

The launch itself has Cisco’s Mobility Services Platform, which includes its IoT Control Center and Converged Core services, now integrated into AT&T’s 5G SA network. This is arguably the carrier’s most advanced cellular platform, with the integration allowing IoT services running through the Cisco platform to take advantage of the 5G SA networks advanced capabilities like networking slicing and application-aware performance.

Cameron Coursey, VP of connected solutions at AT&T, explained that this network capability can support video-based IoT applications that are more network intensive and latency sensitive, specifically pointing to video surveillance and automotive services. Coursey noted that both of those verticals have not traditionally been labeled as “IoT” due to the more modest capabilities of legacy IoT systems, but that 5G SA changes that narrative.

“Frankly, 4G was a lot more focused on downlink, and with 5G you have more of a symmetric link, and you can do a lot more on the uplink,” Coursey explained. “We're going to see a lot more use cases like that emerge in the IoT space.”

Coursey added that the updated network support is particularly important for the automotive sector, which typically requires a much longer lead time and extended support.

“It's starting with automotive and that gives the automotive manufacturers the longevity that they need, the assurance that vehicles they're going to put out on the road today are going to be able to be served by the wireless network years into the future that a [non-standalone 5G] solution won't be able to give them,” Coursey said.

That automotive link was backed by a recent Omdia report that predicts the automotive vertical will count approximately 1.2 billion IoT connections in 2035, representing more than 20% of the IoT market.

Cisco sees IoT opportunities

Masum Mir, SVP and GM of provider mobility at Cisco, also linked the 5G SA network integration toward the growing adoption by telecom operators of API opportunities. This was highlighted by AT&T launch of standardized 5G network APIs late last month.

“SA creates an opportunity to create a platform that is consistent for the end user and your programmability and visibility and assurance of services that’s deep down into the first layer of your network,” Mir said, adding this includes the ability to integrate with services running in non-cellular environments.

“Now we are unlocking the full value because it is also a programmable network underneath, and the network is more aware of services. The differentiation of services is now real,” Mir added. “Things like network slicing, we can tunnel it down into the very first hop up to the consumption layer.”

Mir added that those use cases will be fed through growing enterprise service catalogs “as all these pieces start to come together,” and “to be the foundation for the next proliferation of intelligent machines in our in our countries, in the industries, and there are multiple verticals we believe are going to show tremendous amount of pull and demand beyond just automotive.”

Mir also noted that the Cisco Converged Core links to distributed data centers worldwide to support local breakout for customers looking for centralized control of their distributed operations.

“Now we have programmability built in. We have been building this service catalog. It opens lot of opportunity for AT&T and other partners as well to use a common platform, not only for machine-to-machine, but overall business services around the world,” Mir added.

The extension is another feather in Cisco’s IoT hat. The firm has been repeatedly touted as having an industry leading IoT core platform, including Counterpoint Research recently placing the vendor alongside telecom giants Verizon and Telefónica as “pacesetters” in the space.

IoT Analytics recently reported that the worldwide enterprise IoT market increased 13% in 2025, hitting $324 billion in value and connecting 21.1 billion devices at year end. The firm is forecasting 14% year-over-year growth in 2026.

5G SA adds to AT&T’s IoT journey

AT&T and Cisco have been working in IoT systems for more than a decade. That work accelerated in late 2020 when AT&T started offering Cisco’s IoT Control Center to its business customers, gaining further steam a year later when 5G connectivity was added to that offering.

The latest integration also continues what has been an ongoing AT&T network development process.

The carrier late last year claimed nationwide availability of its 5G SA network, capping a multi-year deployment process. AT&T CTO Jeremy Legg last August told an investor community that the carrier had “millions” of customers on its 5G SA core, highlighting that network alongside its open radio access network (RAN) deployment as opening up its network assets to new revenue-generating opportunities.

“Wireless networks have traditionally been very closed, and you can't just plug into a wireless network. [Open RAN] changes that equation and allows people, through SDKs, RDKs (reference design kits) and other software tools to be able to plug into the network and leverage those services,” Legg said.

AT&T’s 5G network also supports its RedCap IoT efforts, which Coursey said would continue to evolve toward the Enhanced RedCap (eRedCap) standard that will target “the lower end for that IoT.”

The most recent is through the 5G-specific RedCap standard that was released as part of the 3GPP Release 17 5G specification, which means it’s interoperable with 5G networks. It was basically designed as the 5G version of the narrowband-IoT or LTE-M specifications used in 4G LTE.

The RedCap specification itself limits spectrum use to 20 megahertz for sub-6 GHz bands and 100 megahertz for millimeter-wave (mmWave) spectrum. This allows for simpler and smaller antenna designs with one transmitter and one or two receivers, unlike the more complex multiple-input, multiple-output (MIMO) antenna designs required for full-feature 5G new radio (NR) devices like smartphones. This allows RedCap to reduce power requirements and makes it more applicable to edge devices that are often power constrained.

Enhanced RedCap is set to further reduce power requirements and goose adoption. This will allow eRedCap to tap into the already established field of low-powered 4G LTE use cases and account for 71% of the overall RedCap module market through 2029.

ABI Research has predicted 80 million RedCap modules will be shipped into the market over the next several years, with most of that growth driven by a new RedCap iteration.

AT&T earlier this year also launched its AT&T IoT Network Intelligence platform that provides visibility into the performance of an enterprise’s connected ecosystem. The first commercial product out of this is a “standard” iteration that provides device-level KPIs from those devices running on an AT&T IoT network.

AT&T hinted about future platform updates, including through its network-based mobile threat and anomaly detection service, with a specific focus toward meeting use cases tied to verticals like health care, transportation, and industrial.

The AT&T service echoes that of rival T-Mobile US, which late last year launched its T-Platform. That service provides a centralized control portal over the carrier’s business services, including its Edge Control platform, its Advanced Network Solutions (ANS) services, business internet security offerings, IoT devices, wireless connectivity, and collaboration tools.