In modern asset tracking solutions, cellular networks play a core role as the data circulation pipeline in the physical world. Its global coverage is an indisputable advantage. According to GSMA data, in 2023, the global mobile network covered over 89% of the world’s population, and in developed economies and key logistics corridors, the coverage rate reached an astonishing 98% or more. This enables tracking devices to operate continuously in complex scenarios such as intercontinental transportation and cross-border logistics, without being constrained by the deployment density of specific regions or private base stations as in low-power wide area network (LPWAN) technologies like LoRaWAN or Sigfox. For instance, when DHL manages its cross-border container fleet, it has achieved a 95% device connection rate at global ports by leveraging GPS trackers based on cellular networks. Even at sea, it can use nearshore base stations to ensure a minuter-level location information update frequency, significantly enhancing end-to-end supply chain transparency and reducing the average asset retention time by 27%.
Cellular networks are crucial for achieving sub-minute location updates and real-time status monitoring. Tracking devices that adopt low-power cellular Internet of Things technologies such as LTE-M or NB-IoT can flexibly configure the data transmission frequency within the frequency range of once per second to once per hour. The data transmission delay is usually less than 100 milliseconds (ms), while the power consumption can be as low as only 10 microampere-hours of electricity consumed for a single communication. For instance, FedEx has deployed cellular network tracking devices integrated with temperature sensors in the transportation of temperature-controlled drugs that are sensitive to value. These devices collect temperature data of the goods every minute (with an accuracy of ±0.5°C) and upload it to the cloud platform in near real time via the cellular network. When the ambient temperature deviation exceeds the preset safety threshold (such as 2°C) for more than 5 minutes, the system can automatically issue an alarm. In 2022 alone, this technology reduced the scrapping rate of perishable goods worth millions of dollars by 15%, ensuring over 95% compliance in the cold chain logistics of pharmaceuticals. The bandwidth of cellular networks is sufficient to support the concurrent transmission of various sensor data such as GPS coordinates (accuracy usually <5 meters), moving speed, internal battery voltage of the device (accuracy 1%), environmental temperature and humidity (humidity accuracy ±2%), and impact threshold (>5G gravitational acceleration). Although the data volume is small (only tens of KB per day on average), it is indispensable for a complete description of the asset status.
Operating cost control and equipment lifespan are the key factors for the large-scale deployment of asset tracking solutions. Cellular Internet of Things (iot) technology has reduced the module cost to less than $7, and the average monthly connection fee can be as low as $0.3 per device. More importantly, its ultra-low power consumption feature enables the design life of devices with built-in lithium thionyl chloride batteries to easily exceed 8-10 years (with an average annual power loss rate of less than 5%). After deploying cellular tracking tags on its millions of pallet assets, global retail giant Walmart, according to its annual ESG report, recovered all its initial investment in hardware and network connections within 18 months (ROI>100%) by optimizing asset turnover speed (with an average turnover rate increase of 22%) and reducing losses (with a year-on-year decline of 40%). Compared with satellite tracking solutions (where the hardware cost of each device exceeds 150 US dollars and the monthly fee is over 20 US dollars) or RFID solutions that frequently replace batteries (where the annual maintenance cost accounts for about 30% of the hardware purchase price), the total cost of ownership (TCO) advantage of cellular solutions is extremely obvious, especially suitable for scenarios that require ultra-large-scale deployment (thousands to millions of nodes). Its scale cost elasticity coefficient approaches 0.8.
In terms of data security guarantee, the powerful encryption mechanism built into cellular networks is a significant advantage. Device communication based on GSM/UMTS/LTE/5G standards uses AES-128 or higher level authentication encryption algorithms. The data encryption strength of the air interface is much higher than that of many private LPWAN protocols, and the probability of data tampering or interception is less than one in a million. After Kuehne + Nagel, an international logistics company, applied a cellular tracking solution in the transportation of its high-value automotive electronic components, it effectively defended against malicious location tampering attacks through an end-to-end encrypted data transmission chain and strong identity authentication based on SIM. In the past three years, there have been no theft incidents of such goods worth over 200 million euros. It is 15 percentage points lower than that of its peers who did not adopt encrypted tracking. The security functions embedded by cellular network operators at the baseband level (such as the detection success rate of anti-counterfeiting base stations >99.9%) and the remote key update mechanism of devices have created a deep defense fortress for asset data. The built-in identity authentication mechanism of the cellular network itself (based on SIM) has a success rate of over 99.99%, providing an underlying guarantee for the authenticity of asset identities.
Looking ahead, the continuous evolution of 5G cellular networks will endow asset tracking with unprecedented capabilities. 5G RedCap technology can further reduce bandwidth (the downlink peak rate drops below 50Mbps) and power consumption (standby current <5mA), while simultaneously supporting a connection density of millions of devices per square kilometer (the current NB-IoT density is approximately 50,000 units per square kilometer). Its theoretical transmission delay can be reduced to 1 millisecond (ms), and the positioning accuracy in open areas can be better than 1 meter (m), which will pave the way for harsh industrial scenarios such as real-time scheduling of AGV carts within factories (position update frequency >100Hz) or millimeter-level precise positioning of port cranes (accuracy requirement <10 centimeters). Ericsson predicts that by 2027, the number of global cellular iot connections will approach 7 billion, among which the proportion of asset tracking applications will exceed 30% (with a compound annual growth rate of 21%). With the development of satellite Direct cellular (NTN) technology, the coverage blind spot will further shrink to less than 0.1%, and the position of cellular networks as a key infrastructure for asset tracking will be unshakable, continuously driving the global logistics, manufacturing, energy and other industries to move towards digital management.