Cisco is abandoning the LoRaWAN space, and there's no lifeboat for IoT customers

Networking giant Cisco is getting out of the LoRaWAN market for IoT device connectivity, announcing end-of-availability and end-of-life dates for its gateways and associated products, with no planned migration pathway for customers.

Switchzilla made this information public in a notice on its website announcing the end-of-sale and end-of-life dates for Cisco LoRaWAN. The last day customers will be able to order any affected products will be January 1, 2025, with all support ceasing by the end of the decade.

The list includes Cisco's 800 MHz and 900 MHz LoRaWAN Gateways, plus associated products such as omni-directional antennas and software for the Gateways and Interface Modules.

If anyone was in any doubt, the notification spells it out: "Cisco will be exiting the LoRaWAN space. There is no planned migration for Cisco LoRaWAN gateways."

The move will come as a blow for any organizations that have built IoT deployments using LoRaWAN that may have considered Cisco to be a safe and dependable supplier. The networking colossus was pushing new products as recently as last year, when it announced a pluggable interface module (PIM) for the Cisco Catalyst IR1100 Rugged Series Routers with LoRaWAN connectivity.

LoRaWAN is a low power, wide area network specification, specifically designed to connect devices such as sensors over relatively long distances. It is built on LoRa, a form of wireless communication that uses spread spectrum modulation, and makes use of license-free sub-gigahertz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) radio bands. The tech is overseen by the LoRa Alliance.

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The market for LoRaWAN in IoT deployments is said to be growing, with some estimates putting the total market size as $5.7 billion this year, and a forecast growth rate of 9.5 percent annually between 2023 and 2030. Cisco is understood to be one of the largest suppliers, along with Bosch and Semtech, the latter of which claims upwards of 350 million LoRa endpoints deployed worldwide.

The likely reason for discontinuing the LoRaWAN products is cost cutting.

Switchzilla announced it was eliminating seven percent of its global workforce back in August as part of a global restructuring plan and a shift towards a broader AI and security focus. The US corp also posted total revenue for FY 2024 down six percent year-on-year, while networking revenue was down by 15 percent.

The Register asked Cisco for further comment.

One analyst we spoke to who covers the IoT space said this likely isn't a profitable part of the business as far as Cisco is concerned. Since LoRa has a long range, fewer gateways are required than in Wi-Fi deployments, for example, and there are many vendors making LoRa sensors and hardware, resulting in a competitive market.

Len Padilla, senior research director of IDC's European Networking and Life-Cycle Services unit, told us that "while Cisco is the dominant force in networking, they're using that position to grow in other areas, specifically security and observability. They recently let a significant portion of the organization go and this was always going to mean trimming some business units.

"Exiting the LoRaWAN market is probably part of a more focused look at networking, paring away areas where they either weren't dominant, they don't see growth potential or that isn't in line with their overall networking roadmap."

Any Cisco LoRaWAN customers can perhaps take comfort from the fact that the final date to receive applicable service and support as stipulated in active service contracts is December 31, 2029. However, the last date that Cisco Engineering may release a planned maintenance release or software patch is much nearer – December 31, 2026. ®