Expanding IoT Connectivity Worldwide: Taking North American Deployments Global

Valued at $864.32 billion in 2025, the global IoT market is an enormous driver of revenue and innovation worldwide. Demand for internet-connected solutions is only continuing to surge as populations rise, infrastructure modernizes, and urbanization increases city density. Sensors are now embedded everywhere, from smart homes and mass-market consumer devices to healthcare systems, maritime applications, and public safety and transportation. For IoT OEMs, global growth is increasingly necessary to keep competitive as device deployments rapidly expand across borders, professional sectors, and use cases.

While expanding an IoT deployment beyond North America unlocks massive opportunities for manufacturers, it also exposes device makers to a level of complexity they may be unprepared to handle. New markets introduce different networks, foreign carrier contracts, international regulatory standards, and operational challenges. These will undermine performance, reliability, and cost-efficiency if they are not planned for early on.

Seamless, cost-controlled connectivity across borders requires the right design decisions, the right technologies, and critically, the right strategic partners. In this article, we’ll explore how global IoT expansion works, address common pitfalls that often derail deployments, and show how Zipit helps OEMs build scalable, resilient connectivity foundations from day one.

The challenge of expanding IoT deployments globally

Global IoT deployments often fail because companies underestimate the complexity of securing stable, cost-controlled connectivity across multiple diverse markets. Global IoT devices require continuous connectivity and cannot rely on user intervention and manual resets to be effective and cost-efficient.

Devices operate long-term in unattended environments. End-users cannot be tasked with bringing them to carrier stores or swapping out local SIMs, especially when deployments consist of thousands of devices spread across counties. They cannot rely on per-trip roaming models popularly used by smartphones. These devices need strategically pre-negotiated and ongoing access to international carriers. They must also handle multiple carriers, currencies, regulations, and restrictions, as well as various cellular network technologies.

Global scalability: designed from day one

Almost every aspect of IoT device design is consequential to their long-term deployment prospects and scalability options. Device hardware, firmware, and software all determine provisioning flexibility and future coverage access, especially when traversing borders. If OEMs plan to access native connectivity in foreign markets, they need to create a SIM strategy that matches their specific needs. Adding or switching carriers after launch is costly and slow, and expanding network connection options may be impossible without total SKU replacements.

Early choices dictate expansion speed, cost structure, and ongoing reliability. However, early partnerships can help OEMs avoid the numerous pitfalls of international expansion. MVNOs (Mobile Virtual Network Operators) with global experience can assist IoT enterprises in planning, launching, and sustainably growing their device deployments, especially when OEMs engage them early. Companies like Zipit Wireless collaborate with IoT manufacturers and innovators from the outset, providing market-informed guidance on monetization and operations, simplified billing and connectivity management platforms, and invaluable industry insights.

What are the common obstacles that arise in global IoT deployments?

The intricacies of regional connectivity fragmentation are the most common obstacles faced by IoT OEMs expanding globally. When internationally scaling a North American IoT deployment, IoT OEMs will quickly discover how connectivity behaves differently in every region. Even devices built to the same hardware specifications will face dramatically varying real-world performance depending on local network rules, roaming policies, and available carrier technologies.

Permanent roaming restrictions

Many countries limit how long a foreign SIM card can remain on their networks. Devices can be throttled, charged premium rates, or disconnected entirely if they violate permanent roaming policies. A North American IoT deployment should not attempt to expand globally without first negotiating roaming agreements with international carriers and developing a SIM strategy designed for global expansion. Otherwise, they risk unexpected interruptions in uptime and degraded performance.

These agreements can be challenging to navigate unaccompanied. Partnerships with MVNOs like Zipit (and our extensive global reach through Wireless Logic’s carrier relationships) ensure that OEMs can access favorable data plans, maximum network access, and reliable connectivity worldwide.

Learn more: IoT Data Plans: A Complete Roadmap from Deployment to Monetization

Uneven coverage between LPWANs

Low-power wide-area networks (LPWANs) are not consistently deployed worldwide. While LTE-M maintains a robust presence in North America and Australia, its coverage remains spotty in East Asian and European markets. Conversely, China is dominated by NB-IoT, a network technology that has only partial rollouts and limited roaming support in other parts of the world. Depending on where devices want to operate, highly mobile IoT applications will need to transition across multiple network technologies to maintain connectivity as they travel.

If IoT OEMs do not account for the variances in network coverage from the design stage, their products will be limited in their geographic deployment scope, restricting valuable growth opportunities.

Deprioritization of traffic by international carriers

Most cellular carriers prioritize native subscribers over roaming IoT devices. IoT deployments that do not have access to native connectivity often face reduced speeds, higher latency, and unpredictable performance during periods of network congestion. This can have serious implications for deployment reliability, impacting crucial factors like telemetry reporting, real-time tracking, up-to-date analytics, and fleet visibility.

This suboptimal coverage is especially pronounced indoors, at the edge of cell zones, in industrial and rural environments, and for devices with higher data consumption. Nonetheless, they can still charge OEMs premium rates for substandard network access if IoT manufacturers don’t have preexisting relationships to help negotiations.

Native connectivity offers deployments access to regional frequency bands, improving reach, reliability, and energy efficiency. Access to local carrier profiles provides better throughput, lower latency, and improved overall performance.

Operational overhead when scaling

Operational challenges can stall global growth and drain resources if they are not addressed properly with a customized connectivity strategy. When IoT businesses rapidly scale their deployments, workloads can quickly become unmanageable. International expansion is accompanied by diverse currencies and differing taxation requirements. If these are spread across multiple billing platforms, this further complicates workflows, making it harder to make data-informed financial decisions.

Logistics become increasingly inconsistent as different carriers, shipment processes, and activation workflows enter the equation. Usage monitoring can also become fragmented when spread across platforms, making it harder to identify anomalies, control costs, or maintain predictable margins. Support and administrative teams will be stretched thin as they field region-specific connectivity issues that require specialized knowledge.

Simplifying connectivity and billing analytics into unified IoT platforms, like the ones offered by Zipit, allows businesses to minimize complexity and maximize their insights.

Learn more: 10 Ways IoT Can Enhance Your Business

Regulatory and compliance barriers

Expanding IoT devices across borders also introduces a complex layer of regulatory considerations that many teams underestimate. Data sovereignty laws in regions like the EU, Brazil, and India dictate where data can be stored and transmitted, which can force unprepared companies to rethink backend architecture and cloud strategy. Some countries may require formal SIM registration, adding administrative steps before devices can legally operate in the field. Certification requirements add further time, cost, and research to the deployments. Ongoing regulatory compliance is critical to successful global scaling for IoT businesses.

Attempting this without an experienced partner can overwhelm IoT companies. There is a steep learning curve to navigating international deployments. MVNO partners can accelerate time-to-market for devices by alleviating this workload. Experienced connectivity providers have a wealth of experience navigating international regulations and helping OEMs obtain necessary certifications, reducing the amount of time businesses spend researching and ensuring compliance.

Encountering hidden or unplanned costs

When companies expand their IoT products globally, a range of hidden costs can quietly erode margins. Unexpected truck rolls become common when devices experience poor coverage, lockouts, or roaming failures that lack remote fixes. Premium roaming fees or unexpected data surcharges are often overlooked during the planning stages. These can quickly accumulate and blow forecasted budgets.

Deployment timelines also slip when certification hurdles or last-minute carrier negotiations arise, adding cost and complexity. In some cases, entire batches of inventory can end up stranded in specific regions due to a lack of compliance or proper connectivity. Properly planned hardware design and SIM configuration are also essential to maintain performance and avert unforeseen difficulties.

When expanding worldwide for the first time, many OEMs are hammered with hidden expenses. Without strategic planning and a dynamic, informed connectivity strategy, these costs can quickly add up and risk derailing entire projects. This makes partnerships with globally-experienced connectivity providers all the more crucial.

How Zipit prepares IoT OEMs for global expansion

Global expansion introduces countless complexities to IoT deployments, from certification and roaming compliance to carrier negotiations and ongoing lifecycle management. Few OEMs have the resources or in-house expertise to manage these challenges efficiently, especially swiftly or at scale. The challenges of global IoT expansion are significantly reduced when OEMs partner with a connectivity provider built for international scale.

Partnering with an MVNO provider like Zipit Wireless eliminates the uncertainty, replacing reactive problem-solving with proactive strategic solutions, established carrier communication channels, and unified visibility across deployments. These strategic partnerships turn global expansion from risk-heavy endeavors into repeatable, well-orchestrated processes.

Zipit Wireless helps device makers navigate regulatory, operational, and technical complexities by providing a unified platform, established relationships with international Tier-1 carriers, and global-ready connectivity solutions. Instead of managing dozens of fragmented contracts, portals, and processes, OEMs can rely on Zipit as a strategic partner that streamlines deployment, accelerates launch, and ensures devices operate reliably across any market.

1. Zipit uses a unified, end-to-end approach to deployments

Zipit helps IoT OEMs think holistically about global expansion from the outset. This includes recommending hardware and firmware considerations during design stages to ensure maximum global network compatibility. Zipit helps create eSIM, multiple SIM, or multi-network SIM options, ensuring connectivity that enables global flexibility.

Zipit intimately understands the regional network realities that differentiate global markets. By building global readiness into the device architecture (rather than retrofitting it later), OEMs avoid costly reworks and ensure seamless activations across continents. With Zipit’s end-to-end perspective, global deployment becomes an intentional design choice rather than a series of costly and frustrating afterthoughts.

2. Zipit emphasizes long-term scalability and future-ready strategies

As IoT deployments evolve, connectivity needs change too. New markets open, network bands sunset, roaming rules shift, and IoT cellular technologies like 5G RedCap and eSIM standards expand innovative possibilities. Zipit’s offerings are built to adapt to both the individual needs of OEMs as well as the broader IoT ecosystem, offering tools that support dynamic SIM provisioning, automated billing, and multi-network resilience.

Our forward-looking approach ensures that devices are compliant today and remain adaptable as the telecom landscape continues to evolve. Zipit helps OEMs implement low-maintenance deployments with prolonged lifecycles. This flexibility facilitates simplified, scalable global growth.

Learn more: Can You Future-Proof Your IoT Strategy? A Roadmap for Long-Term Success

3. Zipit offers flexible monetization models

Going global means more than accessing worldwide connectivity. It requires a billing infrastructure that adapts to new markets, currencies, usage patterns, taxation considerations, and customer expectations. We assist IoT OEMs in creating monetization models that scale internationally and maximize revenue generation. Whether that’s a usage-based billing solution, fixed subscription tiers, prepaid connectivity bundles, or hybrid packages, we help companies design effective strategies. We recognize there is no single correct solution for every application, so every monetization plan is carefully crafted.

Instead of building custom billing logic for each region and carrier, OEMs can rely on Zipit’s platform to manage payment options, automated invoicing, and per-device usage tracking. This flexibility empowers companies to exercise dynamic pricing strategies, enter new verticals, and create revenue models tailored to the unique needs of each geographic market, all without rebuilding complex internal systems. Most importantly, this is managed through a single platform, reducing the risk of errors and disruptions.

4. Zipit unlocks vast global carrier access

One of the biggest barriers to global expansion for IoT OEMs is securing reliable, affordable connectivity across dozens of countries, each with its own carrier landscape, coverage strength, and roaming rules. Zipit (and by extension, our parent company Wireless Logic) removes these obstacles by providing OEMs access to a broad network of Tier-1 global carriers.

Instead of navigating multiple regional negotiations, OEMs access instant reach into cellular networks worldwide, ensuring devices can maintain optimal network connections wherever they travel through Zipit. Global carrier access reduces roaming dependencies, increases uptime, and improves end-user satisfaction through enhanced performance. We can help IoT innovators obtain favorable data rates, access to power-saving features, and circumvent throttling or network deprioritization, all at a fraction of the standard cost.

We’ve spent decades building relationships to extend to our customers. By leveraging our established carrier partnerships, devices can seamlessly operate across borders without forcing OEMs to frantically manage fragmented carrier relationships behind the scenes.

5. Zipit enables a consistent global user experience

End-users expect IoT devices to work no matter where they’re deployed. Zipit helps IoT companies deliver on those expectations by standardizing connectivity quality provisioning workflows, activation processes, and monetization across regions.

With unified management and billing tools and proactive monitoring, OEMs can deliver reliable performance and consistent user experiences, even as deployments span carriers, continents, and network technologies. This uniformity strengthens brand trust, builds customer loyalty, and reduces customer friction.

6. Zipit is a single, experienced connectivity partner

Multi-network, international deployments are already an elaborate nexus of carriers, regulations, and security protocols. Adding multiple partners to handle connectivity, monetization, or consulting will only further complicate the process. Multiple partnerships also add workflows, operational overhead, and disparate channels of communication. Working with a single partner simplifies this tangled web of relationships, workflows, and billing systems.

Zipit offers OEMs access to worldwide connectivity with a single contract. Our customers access dynamic deployment strategies, billing efficiency, and increased revenue potential all through one portal, one support team, and one collaborative partnership. Our team is equipped to help OEMs manage usage, revenue, provisioning, and networks. A single connectivity partner offers predictable cost structures, reliable support, and sets the foundation for deeper relationships.

What IoT applications need global connectivity strategies?

Almost any IoT use case can be expanded globally, but certain applications are particularly primed for international IoT expansions.

Industries that see the greatest ROI from global connectivity partnerships are those with:

• Mobility across borders: Devices that travel between countries or regions need uninterrupted, carrier-agnostic connectivity to avoid roaming outages, SIM lockouts, or reduced performance.

• High reliability requirements: Applications that must remain online 24/7, such as security, healthcare, or financial systems, depend on immediate network fallback and carrier redundancy.

• Distributed fleets or devices in hard-to-reach environments: When devices are deployed across large geographic areas, or in remote, rural, or industrial settings where Wi-Fi isn’t viable, multi-carrier resilience becomes essential.

• Regulated environments (healthcare, payments, safety): Verticals with strict compliance rules rely on consistent, region-specific connectivity that meets regulatory and certification requirements across borders.
• Massive scaling needs that strain single-carrier models: As deployments expand into new markets, a single MNO or regional SIM strategy becomes a bottleneck. Multi-carrier, eSIM-first connectivity simplifies expansion and keeps costs predictable.
  

Examples of global IoT use cases:

A wide range of IoT applications depend on consistent, cross-border connectivity to operate effectively at scale. Industries with mobile devices, distributed fleets, or strict uptime requirements see the greatest value from partnering with a global connectivity provider. Key segments include:

Asset tracking & logistics

Asset tracking involves highly mobile devices that frequently cross borders, encounter roaming restrictions, and experience cellular tower handoffs. Global connectivity ensures seamless connections as cargo moves across continents and oceans, predictable global pricing for high-volume fleets, and fallback strategies for continuous data transmission.

Industrial IoT & remote monitoring

IoT-powered Industrial equipment is often deployed in hard-to-reach areas. Built-in global resiliency allows for international deployment of industrial controllers, pumps, generators, energy monitors, and offshore devices without requiring individual SKU configurations for each regional deployment.

Consumer IoT (wearables, kids tech, personal safety, health and fitness devices, etc.)

Consumer IoT devices should be able to maintain connectivity across regions without forcing end-users to manage carriers. Global connectivity readiness ensures consistent user experiences across regions, affordable connectivity that scales with massive device fleets, and streamlined onboarding experiences.

Smart agriculture

Smart farming and rural deployments often lack dependable broadband, making multi-carrier cellular connectivity essential, especially for global deployments. Global connectivity partners enable reliable connectivity in remote farmlands around the world and long-lifecycle devices. It further offers centralized management across far-flung device deployments, often seen in soil sensors, weather stations, irrigation controllers, and livestock tracking.

Transportation, telematics, and smart mobility

Vehicles and mobility solutions move continuously between regions, requiring stable connectivity despite border crossing. Global partnerships provide more predictable cost structures for high-data use cases and better performance for fleets, EVs, and telematics.

Drones (commercial UAVs, delivery, inspection, surveying)

Aerial systems performing missions across wide areas or international borders require resilient, low-latency cellular connectivity to maintain command, control, and data transfer. Continuous global connectivity requires multi-carrier connectivity strategies to keep your UAVs connected and airborne.

Global growth begins with the right connectivity foundation

Taking your IoT solution global is a thrilling opportunity for OEMs, but it’s also where deployments can encounter real friction and many unforeseen operational challenges. Connectivity fragmentation, regional regulations, and carrier negotiations can quickly derail timelines and budgets if they aren’t strategically accounted for. Global IoT deployments aren’t plug-and-play: each requires a completely individualized approach to ensure performance, uptime, and cost-efficiency.

Zipit provides an invaluable collaboration for IoT OEMs. By combining a unified global connectivity platform with Tier-1 carrier relationships and a deep knowledge of the global IoT ecosystem, we give OEMs the confidence they need to expand confidently into new regions.

With Zipit as a strategic partner, device makers can build with scalability in mind from the beginning, bringing connected products to international markets faster, more reliably, and with fewer unexpected derailments.

Ready to scale your deployment worldwide? Contact us and let’s build your global connectivity foundation together.