As AI systems grow more capable, their ability to interact with and automate the physical world depends on real-time, granular data — like knowing the exact location and condition of every item in a warehouse, or tool on a factory floor. Ambient Internet of Things (IoT) could unlock that capability.
This shift toward real-world sensing demands a new class of IoT devices — affordable, scalable, and battery-free. Traditional IoT devices are too costly and complex for pervasive automation. That’s where Ambient IoT enters the picture — not just as a new device class, but as a foundational layer for sensing the physical world.
Ambient IoT can sense the physical world
Ambient IoT is a key part of 5G-Advanced, the next phase of 5G evolution. Release 19 of the 3GPP standards, expected to be finalized by the end of 2025, formally introduces Ambient IoT as a new device class, enabling ultra-low-power, battery-less communication.
Whereas many mobile standards are pushing for higher bandwidths and more advanced capabilities, Ambient IoT is aiming for the simplest mobile-connected devices possible. The vision for Ambient IoT is for extremely cheap, printed tags to be used on virtually everything. Ambient IoT tags use so little energy that they don’t need batteries, drawing power from ambient sources. Similar to radio frequency identification (RFID), a small printed tag can be attached to an item, enabling it to receive power from ambient radio waves and transmit its location and conditions, such as temperature or humidity.
How low can the costs go?
The economics of Ambient IoT are what make it truly transformative. If tags could be produced cheaply enough, Ambient IoT tags could be placed on every item moving through a supply chain, every product in retail, and every asset, person, safety device, and tool in a factory. Huawei Wireless believes volume prices of the tags could be as low as $0.50 each in 2027, and down to $0.10 each a couple of years later, making widespread tagging feasible.
What makes Ambient IoT revolutionary compared to RFID?
While Ambient IoT shares RFID’s ultra-cheap and battery-less features, the standard aims for superior capabilities:
- Real-time visibility: Continuous data streams versus point-in-time scans
- Extended range: More than 100 meters range versus less than 10 meters
- Higher accuracy: Over 99.99% inventory accuracy versus 90%
- Positioning: 5-7 meters, with expectations to improve over time
Small devices, huge impact
These features are compelling for tracking individual items, but at a systemic level — tracking billions of items — Ambient IoT takes on larger meaning. It can provide real-time visibility for location, conditions and motion of everything in a facility, and eventually across the wider mobile network. That data can power digital twins, enabling real-time monitoring, management, optimization, and eventually automation of complex systems.
Addressable market
The market for Ambient IoT is potentially enormous. Tags may start on valuable objects like pallets and forklifts, then move to item-level tagging. There are hundreds of billions of packages, tools, and assets that might be tagged, and eventually trillions of consumer goods.
Key use cases
Ambient IoT will bring major benefits across diverse use cases:
- Supply chains: Real-time management and automation to ensure inventory is in the right place at the right time.
- Warehouses and retailers: Continuous, high-accuracy inventory.
- Food tracing and pharmaceuticals: Cold chain monitoring and item traceability for safety and compliance.
- Hospitals: Tracking patients, assets, and staff to boost utilization and reduce delays.
When will Ambient IoT be ready?
The industry expects Ambient IoT to be quick out of the gate. The standards will be published within weeks, and much of the ecosystem is ready. Additionally, tags are available, there are mobile indoor base stations that can support it, and already Chinese operators have shown that connectivity management platforms can support it.
Telcos should explore Ambient IoT
While 5G-A brings many advanced capabilities, mobile operators shouldn’t overlook Ambient IoT. Telcos can support it with little new cost. They will need to develop new pricing models for supporting low-cost tags, but the aggregate benefits for enterprises are enormous. Operators should explore the potential of this new technology.
Conclusion
Ambient IoT isn’t just a technical innovation — it’s a strategic enabler for the next wave of automation and intelligence. As 5G-Advanced evolves, Ambient IoT could become the invisible infrastructure powering real-time visibility, operational efficiency, and AI-driven decision-making across industries. The time to move is now.
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