Telefónica Tech consolidates its leadership in the Spanish IoT market, reaching 17 million connected devices at the end of November. This figure represents a 240% increase so far this year, from 5.018 million at the end of 2024.
The Spanish company has maintained its leading position since the end of the summer, when it ended the third quarter with 12.3 million IoT lines after adding more than three million connected SIM cards during that period.
The main catalysts for this growth are the V16 connected beacons, which will replace emergency triangles as hazard warning devices in Spain from January onwards, and the numerous functionalities that IoT connectivity is offering to key sectors such as healthcare, industry and utilities (water and gas).
Telefónica Tech is playing a leading role in this digital transformation. Among other things, it provides its IoT connectivity to more than 70% of the V16 beacon models certified by the DGT and leads the digitisation of the urban water cycle in Spain with more than 1.5 million connected water meters.
In the case of V16 beacons, Telefónica Tech’s IoT connectivity enables the secure, accurate and anonymous communication of the geolocation of a vehicle stopped due to a breakdown or accident to the DGT platform so that it can alert other road users to the existence of an incident.
The marketing of connected beacons in Spain by Movistar is a key factor in this drive towards IoT, especially in the last two months, as the date for these devices to become mandatory approaches. In fact, the connected beacon has been one of Movistar’s best-selling accessories this Black Friday, with product sales up 52% compared to the same period last year. Both existing and new users can purchase connected beacons through Movistar, with the connectivity of an IoT SIM card at no additional cost, valid for 12 years.
In the water sector, IoT connectivity is connecting water meters to enable automatic remote reading of consumption and advance predictive maintenance, early leak detection and more sustainable consumption models. For its part, the gas sector is using smart technologies to improve safety in distribution networks, optimise real-time monitoring and reduce energy losses.
Telefónica Tech is also well positioned in the social healthcare and industrial sectors. For example, the company is deploying non-invasive sensors in the homes of elderly or vulnerable people to identify any abnormal behaviour in advance and alert carers or emergency services. Meanwhile, in the industrial sector, IoT and other advanced technologies are making it possible to connect the different elements of a factory and advance in collaborative robotics, digital twins, industrial communications and computer vision to optimise processes, reduce the carbon footprint and accelerate the transition to Industry 4.0.
