By 2035, cellular IoT networks will carry 218.6 exabytes of data annually — and the dominant share will not come from industrial sensors or logistics tracking but from vehicles streaming audio and video to passengers.
That is the central finding of Omdia's cellular IoT data traffic forecast, published today. The research firm puts the automotive sector at 135.4 exabytes by 2035, up from 30.7 exabytes in 2025. In-vehicle infotainment services and over-the-air firmware updates account for most of that volume. Transport and logistics rank second, though all remaining sectors combined will contribute less than 29% of total cellular IoT traffic beyond 2025.
Two emerging categories are adding load that older forecasts would have missed. Remote vision embeds cellular-connected cameras in devices ranging from delivery robots to industrial machinery, creating persistent high-bandwidth uplinks from environments previously offline. Agentic AI introduces a second, distinct demand stream: machine-to-machine traffic generated by autonomous AI agents coordinating tasks rather than responding to human requests. Both trends are pushing requirements for edge processing power and, in turn, accelerating 5G deployment.
Alexander Thompson, Senior Analyst for IoT at Omdia, said: "The rising number of vehicles with smart features, particularly infotainment, will cause cellular IoT data traffic to boom over the next decade. Other video-based use cases will also generate significant amounts of data."
Andrew Brown, Practice Lead for IoT at Omdia, added: "While cellular IoT data traffic remains dominated by use cases that require mobility, such as automotive and logistics, emerging trends like remote vision, which enables cameras to be added in a wide range of devices, from delivery robots to industrial machinery, and agentic AI, driving growth in peer-to-peer machine traffic, are increasing demand for greater edge processing power and accelerating 5G adoption. Together, these trends are creating additional data traffic demand that did not exist several years ago."
Geography sharpens the picture further: Asia and Oceania account for 50.6% of global cellular IoT data traffic in 2025, a share Omdia attributes to the region's early technology adoption and its dense installed base of cellular-connected cameras.
The rising number of vehicles with smart features, particularly infotainment, will cause cellular IoT data traffic to boom over the next decade. Other video-based use cases will also generate significant amounts of data.
While cellular IoT data traffic remains dominated by use cases that require mobility, such as automotive and logistics, emerging trends like remote vision, which enables cameras to be added in a wide range of devices, from delivery robots to industrial machinery, and agentic AI, driving growth in peer-to-peer machine traffic, are increasing demand for greater edge processing power and accelerating 5G adoption. Together, these trends are creating additional data traffic demand that did not exist several years ago
