IoT Connectivity: Powering the Future of Shared Mobility

Across the globe, cities, vehicle manufacturers, and technology companies are adjusting as the new frontier of personal transport – connected vehicle and micromobility services, from ride-hailing apps to municipal e-bikes and autonomous vehicles – are gradually shifting transport norms away from private vehicle ownership and towards short-term, on-demand rentals.

Shared mobility may seem like a novel concept, having leapt out of the woodwork in the last decade and manifesting itself in throngs of e-scooters competing for sidewalk space. In reality, the central concept has been around since the dawn of humanity. One of the original unicorn startups, Uber, rose to fame by reworking the centuries-old idea of a taxi service. Even the “modern” model of carsharing services can be traced back to the 1940s, when the Swiss Selbstfahrergenossenschaft organization operated a pool of communal cars that were leased on a short-term basis.

Today, advances in wireless technology have enabled the current era of driverless cars, ride-sharing platforms, and “micromobility” – which is generally considered to be anything smaller than a car.

The current state of the shared mobility market

The last decade has seen the sector grow at an unprecedented rate, becoming an entirely normal mode of transport for many urbanites. In 2022, McKinsey estimated that shared mobility services, discounting traditional public transport, accounted for nearly 20% of all global transportation.

In Europe, the number of car-sharing vehicles is increasing by approximately 8% year-on-year. In India, car sales are plummeting as consumers explore the country’s booming smart mobility industry, which encompasses ridesharing apps and short-term car rentals. By 2030, shared mobility is expected to account for over a third of India’s urban transportation.

The reasons behind the growth are manifold, ranging from environmental concerns to the rising costs of fuel and cars, as well as the growing global demand for Internet of Things (IoT) services. New data standards have transformed the ways in which wireless devices are manufactured, deployed, and managed. 5G data has enabled the real-time transfer of vast data volumes, while eSIMs permit IoT companies to remotely and instantly imbue their device fleets with wireless connectivity. IoT connectivity for mobility platforms enables real-time fleet management, usage tracking, and pricing.

Recent advances in wireless technology have made these new transportation models a reality in cities around the world.

Mobility-as-a-service (MaaS) and the IoT

The shared mobility space is part of a wider movement: Mobility-as-a-service, or MaaS. In essence, MaaS allows users short-term access to a wide range of transport options, usually booked through a digital platform.  Like Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) or Device-as-a-Service (DaaS), MaaS transforms customer relationships with the product (in this case, transportation) from an ownership-based, long-term model to brief instances, spread across a range of suppliers.   

The sector is driven by advances in wireless technology – the real-time data-processing capabilities of 5G have made MaaS a viable option in supported areas, while eSIM-based devices with automatic failover protection reduce the risk of downtime in critical functions like automobility.

The role of shared mobility connectivity

A reliable wireless connection for shared mobility is often necessary from a public safety perspective. For any brand using wireless devices, lost connections can cause significant impacts to revenue, customer experience, and brand reputation. Signal outages and downtime cannot be allowed to affect functions in critical roles like automobility and shared transport. In these cases, the risks of downtime go beyond the financial.

The introduction of eSIM connectivity has helped to assuage these concerns: eSIMs’ inherent multi-IMSI functionality allows them to automatically detect and reconnect to the strongest available local mobile network, avoiding downtime in the event of a local signal outage. IoT eSIMs from an international MVNO like 1GLOBAL, for example, have access to a minimum of 3 separate networks in over 190 countries. In these IoT-based smart mobility connectivity services, a dense web of connected sensors and networks supports ride initiation, location services, and secure transactions.

Real-time location tracking is a prime example of this in action: 5G-connected cars provide customers with constant, accurate estimates for pick-up and drop-off times. Uninterrupted IoT connectivity achieves higher utilization rates, stronger retention, and safer journeys.

These capabilities go beyond day-to-day operations: real-time usage data allows shared mobility operators to perform operations like predictive maintenance, identifying and addressing issues with their vehicles before they occur. As Berg Insights analyst Angela Rickard points out, “Automation and coordination of operational tasks such as fleet rebalancing, battery swapping, and vehicle maintenance is crucial as micromobility operators focus on profitability and operational efficiency.”

The model enables unprecedented user insights and analysis, enabling operators to make informed decisions on every aspect of their fleet management. Parsing the data from a globally distributed fleet can be a challenge: global IoT providers like 1GLOBAL have responded to this demand with centralized IoT management platforms that simplify IoT operations across borders.

The global connectivity challenges of shared mobility

A notable aspect of the shared mobility boom is how global the demand is, with consistent growth exhibited across nearly every continent.

The micromobility industry in particular is going through a purple patch: McKinsey predicts that each of the South Asian, European, Middle Eastern, and African markets will double over the next 5 years. These numbers reiterate the near-universal desire for alternative transportation methods, and the global opportunities available to these providers – when supported by an international IoT partner and a sustainable scaling strategy.

Expanding wireless services across borders presents several technical, legal, and administrative challenges. We’ve previously explored these in detail – here's a quick recap:

• IoT companies must provide their fleets with reliable connectivity across different global regions, wireless standards, and network types.

• They must also comply with the individual security, privacy, and legal requirements in each country of operation.

Further to these essential tenets, any company looking to expand its IoT services across borders must consider local market conditions and avoid levies like roaming fees when connecting devices in new territories. Meeting these composite challenges head-on is possible with international connectivity providers.

Failing to account for the variances in connectivity and consumer expectations across borders creates a poor customer experience and impacts revenue. In the short-term, this can dissuade international expansion. In the fast-growing and hyper-competitive world of shared mobility, these are the decisions that can ultimately determine a company’s success.

Cities and the IoT for shared mobility

With some notable exceptions, shared mobility services tend to be deployed in major urban areas, forming part of the city’s public transportation network (though distinct from mass transit like trains or buses). As such, they can play an integral role in the global rise of smart cities – urban areas that employ wireless technology and IoT services to manage municipal processes and populations.

This can include everything from smart bins that discourage food waste to high-level surveillance networks and traffic management.

Individual cities and councils often impose their own guidelines to maintain public safety, improve pedestrian walkways, and reduce municipal e-waste.

The UK has banned shared e-scooters from public roads altogether, while bike share companies are strictly regulated, often operating under exclusive contracts. In Australia, e-scooter riders must wear a helmet, which the operating companies are obliged to provide.

On the other side of the equation, the IoT helps cities make informed decisions about the operations of third-party shared mobility services. Experts can monitor the behaviour of shared vehicles and apply the data to regulate the operating companies.

IoT-enabled e-scooters, for example, use real-time tracking to inform the rider when they’re exiting the scooter’s permitted range, or even whether they stop in a restricted parking zone. Cities can define these no-parking and scooter-free zones and continually update the boundaries as required, as in the case of citywide events or festivals – eSIM connectivity allows this information to be communicated instantly, at scale.

Regulating micromobility and the importance of a unified network

Australia’s helmet rule isn’t the only example of shared mobility companies adapting their services to local laws: as any wireless-based service, ridesharing and micromobility companies must comply with national data privacy and compliance regulations in every country of operation. For international fleets, the legal and administrative workload required to ensure and maintain compliance with these oft-updated measures can swiftly build up: negotiating roaming contracts in every country of operation and ensuring compliance with local regulations is a time-consuming process that can be a barrier to expansion.

An international partner like 1GLOBAL instead draws on a network of worldwide roaming agreements to provide compliant, fast, and reliable shared mobility IoT solutions with a single contract.

How 1GLOBAL powers shared mobility

The 1GLOBAL IoT network comprises 600+ partner networks across 190+ countries, with a minimum of 3 available networks per country.

As one of the largest shared mobility companies in Europe, Invers uses 1GLOBAL eSIMs to connect vehicles across leading ridesharing brands, including Miles and Free2move. These global businesses rely on 1GLOBAL connectivity to power their fast-growing fleets across the globe.

As a market-leading service provider, 1GLOBAL technologies offers multiple uses for the mobility sector, delivering scalable IoT connectivity for shared fleets:

• Micromobility: Ensuring a reliable and smooth customer experience, even in high-density urban areas that are prone to network overload

• Carsharing: Delivering uninterrupted connectivity for both free-floating and station-based car sharing models, with multi-IMSI technology providing constant failover support and keeping services running in the event of a network outage.

• Stations and hardware: 1GLOBAL’s IoT connectivity platform supports 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, and LTE-M networks worldwide, providing always-on connectivity for helmet boxes, ride telemetry, docking stations, and payment kiosks anywhere.

• Fleet logistics and maintenance: 1GLOBAL IoT solutions drive down high operational costs, fuel consumption, and vehicle downtime with real-time telematic data via worldwide IoT SIMs and CMP for optimized routing, predictive maintenance alerts, and reduced TCO.

• Insurance and compliance: 1GLOBAL provides secure, consistent data streams from vehicle to cloud via compliant private networks for accurate risk modelling, personalized premiums, and new, data-driven revenue streams.

Managing global mobility fleets with 1GLOBAL

1GLOBAL’s IoT connectivity management platform provides brands with an instant overview of every connected device in their fleet, in every region. A single platform allows IT administrators to ensure a unified standard of service across every market, while alerting them to any potential issues in real time. The system is based on API-driven IoT management, which seamlessly integrates into existing device management platforms.

For operators, network configuration is can be managed directly from the server, enabling permanent connectivity to ensure system checks can be enacted at all times, such as heal diagnostics or digital key ecosystem support. For security reasons, all of the data can be transmitted through a single VPN tunnel, or several tunnels for redundancy, initiated from geographically diverse points of presence of the 1GLOBAL distributed network. 

The future of IoT-driven shared mobility

While the shared mobility market is already experiencing strong growth, the attitudes of future generations and a growing trend away from petrol vehicles could further cement its position

Proponents will point to shared mobility’s tendency to draw consumers away from petrol cars and onto electric alternatives – including a growing number of electric cars under the control of ridesharing companies like Uber and Bolt. However, the verdict is still unclear on the extent to which these services reduce reliance on cars, if at all – some studies suggest that most ride-hailing trips replace walking, cycling, or mass transit journeys rather than drives. While the ride shares do offer an improvement over private cars, they are still significantly less efficient than mass transit options like trains or buses.

Nevertheless, the sector is expected to continue growing. In a 2019 worldwide survey on mobility by Deloitte, Gen Z participants from all surveyed countries were more likely to question the need to own a vehicle than any other age group. In Japan and India, this included the majority of Gen Z respondents. As the Morgan Stanley report notes, app-based mobility services will continue to surge as consumers across the globe gain “access to cheaper handsets and affordable data plans”.

Harnessing this international demand is possible with 1GLOBAL’s worldwide IoT connectivity. Learn more about how we help shared mobility brands to scale their IoT deployments, or contact our team today.