Radio Modem Market Size & Share Analysis - Growth Trends And Forecast (2025 - 2030)

Global Radio Modem Market Trends and Insights

Migration from Serial to IP-Based SCADA Networks

Utilities are phasing out legacy serial links in favor of Ethernet-compatible, deterministic radio systems that seamlessly bridge old and new protocols. DTE Energy’s SmartCurrents program deployed a private mesh network across 7,600 sq mi to connect 3.6 million smart meters and automate distribution assets, illustrating how IP migration boosts network visibility and reduces truck rolls. ^{[1]International Society of Automation, “Update to ISA/IEC 62443 Standards,” isa.org}Radio-modem vendors now prioritize dual-port designs that support Modbus, DNP3 and IEC 60870 alongside IPv6 to ease retrofit projects. The transition also catalyzes demand for higher-throughput radios capable of transporting video diagnostics and edge-analytics data from substations. As more utilities digitalize assets to meet resiliency mandates, serial-to-IP bridge shipments are projected to stay elevated through 2028. Regional variations persist, yet North American grid-operators continue to set integration templates subsequently adopted in Europe and Asia-Pacific.

Surge in UAV and Drone Telemetry Deployments

Commercial drone fleets for precision agriculture, pipeline inspection and emergency response require low-latency links that maintain video and sensor integrity over tens of kilometres. Software-defined radio (SDR) modems enable operators to adjust coding schemes and power levels on the fly, optimizing performance for mission profile and airspace regulations. AI-enhanced payloads further increase upstream bandwidth needs to support onboard object recognition. Demand concentrates in North America and Asia-Pacific where drone regulations and subsidy programs stimulate enterprise investment. Vendors targeting this segment differentiate through AES-256 encryption, compact SWaP designs and seamless handoff between terrestrial and satellite links. The uptrend will remain pronounced as BVLOS (Beyond Visual Line-of-Sight) approvals broaden commercial use cases.

5G Private-Network Roll-Outs in Industrial Campuses

Manufacturing, logistics and energy facilities are adopting stand-alone 5G cores to secure deterministic URLLC (Ultra-Reliable Low-Latency Communications) without relying on public networks. Siemens’ Scalance MUM856-1 industrial router exemplifies the convergence of traditional radio-modem and cellular capabilities, supporting 1 Gbps traffic and automatic 4G fallback in harsh environments. Private spectrum frameworks in the US (CBRS) and Germany (3.7-3.8 GHz) lower barriers to entry. Integrators bundle edge-compute nodes with the radio stack, enabling closed-loop control of AGVs, machine vision and digital twins. Resulting productivity gains reinforce management buy-in, driving steady demand for 5G-capable radio modems through 2030.

Government Smart-Grid Modernization Mandates

Policy directives such as the US Energy Independence and Security Act and EU network-code harmonization compel utilities to deploy advanced metering infrastructure, distribution automation and integration of distributed energy resources. Thailand’s Provincial Electricity Authority adopted Huawei’s eLTE SCADA solution to meet national reliability goals, evidencing global policy diffusion. Mandates often bundle funding incentives that offset capital costs for communication upgrades, lifting radio-modem replacement cycles. Because regulatory reviews typically span multiple years, this driver exerts the strongest long-term pull on industry growth.

Rising Cyber-Hardening Compliance Costs

ISA’s 2024 update to the ANSI/ISA-62443-2-1 standard obliges asset owners to institute enterprise-wide risk programs, raising documentation and testing overheads for every new radio deployment. ^{[2]Hitachi Energy, “DTE Energy SmartCurrents,” hitachienergy.com} Industry surveys show industrial-cyber budgets increasing 15% y/y, with compliance consuming up to 25% of allocations. Smaller cooperatives and municipal utilities struggle to absorb the incremental cost, slowing refresh cycles. Vendors respond by embedding secure-element chips and FIPS-validated crypto stacks, but certification queues and audit fees still extend project timelines. Over the forecast horizon, elevated security spend will temper total unit growth even as overall revenue rises on higher ASPs.

Competition from Low-Orbit Satellite IoT Links

Rapid deployment of LEO constellations introduces an alternative to terrestrial radios for covering remote oilfields, maritime routes and wildlife reserves. Analysts expect 30.3 million satellite-IoT devices in service by 2025, shrinking the addressable base for very-long-range terrestrial modems. ^{[3]Satellite Markets, “Satellite IoT: A Game Changer,” satellitemarkets.com}Semiconductor leaders now ship chipsets supporting 3GPP 5G NTN Release 17, allowing direct-to-device messaging that bypasses backhaul repeaters. Radio-modem suppliers counter by integrating satellite backup modes and focusing on lower-latency niches that LEO systems cannot yet match. Nevertheless, substitution risk remains highest for sparsely populated geographies where tower economics are weakest.

Segment Analysis

By Product Type: Long-Range Devices Outpace General-Purpose Units

Radio modem market size for General-Purpose Data Modems stood at USD 0.58 billion in 2024 and commanded 42.87% of radio modem market share, anchored by decades of SCADA installations in utilities and oil-and-gas pipelines. Their popularity persists because drop-in replacements keep legacy assets online while adding IP pass-through. However, Long-Range Industrial Modems are posting a 6.97% CAGR to 2030 as renewable energy farms, midstream pipelines and rural mining sites scale remote asset monitoring. These units couple 30+ km line-of-sight ranges with multi-band capability, often embedding both VHF and sub-GHz ISM for redundancy. Manufacturers increasingly incorporate advanced forward-error-correction and AES-256 to comply with modern cyber rules, while optional GNSS timing ensures deterministic polling intervals.

Software-Defined Radio modems captured meaningful mindshare as industrial clients prioritize field-upgradable platforms. Hytera’s DS-6250S Cube supports eight carriers and dynamic bandwidth allocation, illustrating how SDRs lower total cost of ownership by postponing hardware refreshes. UAV-friendly data modems emphasize lightweight form-factors below 50 g and dual-antenna diversity for uninterrupted telemetry. Meanwhile, Cellular-IoT embedded modules pair LTE-M, NB-IoT or 5G NR bands with fallback to unlicensed LoRa or Wi-Fi, providing single-SKU global coverage for equipment OEMs that sell into multiple jurisdictions.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Frequency Band: Sub-1 GHz LPWAN Gains Traction

License-Free ISM bands contributed 38.54% of radio modem market revenue in 2024 as 868/915 MHz devices balanced range, cost and licensing simplicity. Many utilities still favor these bands for distribution-automation and fault-reclosure controls given predictable propagation through foliage and buildings. Demand is shifting toward Sub-1 GHz LPWAN platforms such as LoRaWAN and Sigfox, which are advancing at a 7.13% CAGR, chiefly because they offer battery-lifetimes exceeding 10 years for condition-monitoring sensors deployed in remote wells and irrigation pumps. Vendors integrate dual-mode stacks that can switch from LoRa to FSK, widening applicability.

Licensed VHF/UHF bands maintain relevance where mission-critical reliability outweighs spectrum-lease fees; railway signaling and public-safety agencies illustrate sustained demand. Policy modifications unlocking 6 GHz for very-low-power devices in 2025 open new channels for augmented-reality work-instructions and machine-vision streaming. Above 5 GHz, mmWave radio modems leverage beamforming for short-haul links inside factories, shifting heavy video payloads to edge servers without congesting lower bands reserved for SCADA polling.

By Application: Utilities and Smart Grid Lead Growth Curve

SCADA and Telemetry preserved the largest slice of radio modem market size at USD 0.46 billion in 2024, representing a 33.89% share. Use cases span breaker status, load tap-changer control and cathodic-protection monitoring. Yet Utilities and Smart Grid projects are charting the fastest 7.18% CAGR to 2030 as regulators press operators to integrate distributed solar and energy-storage assets. Eagle Ford Oil Field achieved 40% OPEX savings after replacing leased lines with wireless mesh for SCADA and VoIP workloads, underscoring return-on-investment clarity.

Transportation and ITS deployments embrace Vehicle-to-Everything radios that meet sub-10 ms latency for collision avoidance. Mining and Oil-and-Gas operators test private 5G to control autonomous haulage and drilling rigs; Newmont’s Cadia mine reported safer operations after trialling the network, prompting global rollout plans. Agriculture continues to adopt LPWAN irrigation controls, lowering water consumption 16–30% while achieving 98% packet-success rates.

Note: Segment shares of all individual segments available upon report purchase

By Communication Channel: Mesh Topologies Accelerate

Point-to-Multipoint hubs represented 46.92% of radio modem market revenue in 2024, underpinning central-master SCADA architectures in power distribution and municipal water. These networks favour deterministic polling schedules and simplify NERC-CIP compliance assessments. Mesh Networking, however, is climbing at a 7.23% CAGR as utilities and smart-city operators prioritise self-healing, multi-hop reliability. Wirepas’ non-cellular 5G mesh runs on 1.9 GHz licence-exempt spectrum, supporting hundreds of nodes per square kilometre with <5 ms hop latency.

Point-to-Point links retain niche importance for high-resolution video backhaul, construction site monitoring and temporary events. Private LTE-5G backhaul segments carve share where enterprises need mobility along conveyor belts or port cranes yet want ownership of SLA parameters. Emerging network-slicing tools allow IT departments to carve deterministic VLANs for SCADA while allocating the same physical eNodeB to best-effort vehicle telemetry, harmonising divergent QoS demands under unified management.

Geography Analysis

Asia-Pacific generated 34.76% of 2024 radio modem market revenue and is on course for a 7.43% CAGR through 2030 as Beijing’s Made in China 2025 blueprint and Seoul’s smart-factory programs intensify demand for factory digitalization. Government-backed 5G private-network pilots in Japan’s manufacturing clusters have become reference architectures for neighbouring ASEAN economies. Electricity boards across India and Indonesia allocate budget for RF mesh AMI, accelerating shipments of sub-GHz modems. The region’s contribution to the radio modem market will therefore remain the primary volume driver.

North America sustains sizeable outlays on grid-modernization and cybersecurity. Department of Energy funding spurs utilities to refresh legacy licensed narrowband radios with hybrid IP designs, while CBRS spectrum encourages manufacturing plants to deploy private networks. Apple’s multibillion-dollar RF-chip sourcing deal with Broadcom illustrates a broader reshoring trend that enhances supply-chain resilience for radio-hardware OEMs.

Europe experiences steady demand owing to stringent cyber and environmental directives. Germany’s emphasis on open automation boosts interest in software-defined platforms, and regional energy companies leverage 450 MHz and 700 MHz licences for mission-critical infrastructure. Nordic utilities pioneer maritime and offshore-wind telemetry solutions, utilising multi-band radios that integrate VHF voice channels with LTE-M for data. UK spectrum-sharing frameworks allow port operators to reserve 3.8 GHz slices, stimulating adoption of dual-mode 5G/radio-modem gateways.