How Transport Leaders are Adopting D2D for Smarter Fleets

Facing complexities operating large fleets across regions and varying jurisdictions, transport organisations report a greater turn towards the deployment of direct-to-device solutions - with 81% planning to adopt - compared to any other industry.

Through the sector-wide plans for implementation, transportation companies are anticipating improved tracking solutions and scalability across operations.

Viasat explores how connectivity is being reshaped in its latest report, The Great Connectivity Convergence: NTN in Industrial IoT.

The demand for connectivity

Viasat is a global communications company, working to connect businesses and people around the world. Its latest report, The Great Connectivity Convergence: NTN in Industrial IoT, undertakes an exploration of how industrial organisations are moving towards the shift of a singular connective ecosystem.

For the study, Viasat and Vanson Bourne surveyed 600 IoT decision-makers across agriculture, energy, land transport and logistics, mining, and utilities. 

The professionals were asked about their usage of direct-to-device (D2D) Internet of Things (IoT) devices, exploring how they track, monitor and control operations. This is done by sharing data across satellite and cellular without the need for existing satellite terminals.

Following the volatility of logistics in recent years, the need for connectivity has proven itself, with many companies anticipating universal connectivity. However, this has proven difficult due to geographical, scalable and infrastructure limitations. 

Satellite networks have global reach and reliability but higher costs. Cellular, on the other hand, is affordable and high performing, but with limited coverage. As a result, businesses have needed to use separate hardware for their operations, increasing the cost and complexity of operating multiple sources.

Now, with D2D connectivity, terrestrial and satellite networks are integrated across one system, meaning devices from sensors to handsets can be adapted for direct communication. 

Industry specific adoption

The intent to adopt D2D technology varies across location and industry, with Europe leading in the short-term adoption intent at 35% planning to adopt within six months. Only 17% of respondents in the MENA area have a six-month adoption plan, which Viasat suggests demonstrates a weaker sense of urgency in the regions seeing rapid acceleration with IoT and see no need for D2D. 

Intent across industries varies even more, with only 61% in the energy industry planning to adopt D2D technology within the next 12 months. The report says this "may speak to a necessary sense of caution in an industry where health and safety at remote sites is a key concern."

On the other hand, 81% of leaders in the transportation industry plan to adopt D2D in the next 12 months, representing the strongest intent. This reflects D2D as a practical way to connect the sector's solutions and reach scalability.

Overall, 90% of leaders surveyed said they agree that D2D will accelerate the rollout of IoT, with 89% of organisations saying they would consider replacing current IoT connectivity with D2D in the next three years.

“Organisations are rightly excited by the potential for standards-based D2D and are planning to deploy new technology quickly, and at scale," explains Andy Kessler, Vice President, Enterprise at Viasat.

"The excitement makes sense because we know new devices can lower the barrier to entry for organisations by reducing the cost, complexity and physical size of IoT terminals. But while companies rightly want to move fast, the change represents a major shift.

"It’s our job to work with our partner ecosystem and customers to help them access the safety, efficiency and sustainability benefits satellite-enabled IoT can bring.”

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D2D implementation

Respondents are confident in the benefits offers from D2D implementation, with its smaller form factor (61%), ability to support large scale deployments (59%) and deployments in areas without cellular coverage (55%) being the key drivers.

D2D implementation has industry-specific benefits, including:

• crop storage monitoring in agriculture
• automated haulage vehicles in mining
• vehicular tracking and route optimisation in transport
• water infrastructure monitoring in utilities
• wellhead monitoring in energy 

Organisations have already begun seeing the benefits of technological rollout. Due to their existing IoT rollout, 78% of respondents said they have seen an increase in progress across their organisations. There is an ongoing effort for integrating satellite across deployments, with 55% organisations using it across IoT estates - an increase from 41% in 2024's survey.

Though organisations are interested in D2D adoption, buyers are still waiting for tangible evidence that it is effective. Moreover, as technologies like this often have an initial high-cost, decision-makers feel less confident in opting for it when they do not see proven benefits – meaning leaders are reluctant to train staff in the technology before being certain it will pay off. 

Despite these concerns, D2D has the potential to accelerate innovation, drive scale and lower costs for businesses around the world. This leads to greater supply chain resilience in an increasingly volatile world, where disconnected communication can lead to supply chain breakdown.