CONNECTED TECHNOLOGY. CLEARLY EXPLAINED.
Prepare an IoT connectivity provider RFQ
A practical question set for cellular, satellite and hybrid connectivity. Carry the answers into the existing total-cost worksheet and pilot requirements brief.
By Admin · Checked 20 October 2026.
A useful quotation identifies the exact service, hardware, deployment and operating responsibility. Copy the questions below into your supplier brief. Keep supplier commitments, assumptions and pilot observations in separate columns.
Start with three decisions
Describe the job
Sites/routes, expected fleet, encoded payload, routine interval, alarms, deadline, power, environment and application endpoint. Include a useful manual fallback.
Ask for written scope
Exact company/service, market, modem/terminal, firmware, SIM/profile, antenna and supported interface. Ask for dated documents and named responsibility for each handover.
Compare the full term
Use the same fleet, usage, support hours and contract duration for all quotes. Leave unquoted fees unknown. Record currency, taxes and expiry separately.
Work through the practical questions
1 · Technical and deployment questions
Which radio bands/technologies and exact devices are supported? What evidence covers each site and route? What are uplink/downlink payload limits, expected delivery behavior, roaming conditions and install restrictions? Who confirms market eligibility and any required authorization?
2 · Commercial questions
Request hardware, antenna/cabling, activation, minimum subscription, pooled or per-device allowance, billing units, retries, overage, suspension, API/platform access, installation, support, renewal and exit charges. Ask whether unused allowances carry forward and whether the provider can change rates during the term.
3 · Operations and ownership questions
Who provisions devices, holds credentials, receives usage alerts, handles incidents and supplies replacement equipment? What export formats, data retention and account-transfer procedures are available? How are lost devices and network sunsets handled?
4 · Pilot and sign-off questions
Who supplies equipment and pays for the pilot? State pass/fail criteria before testing. Require raw observation/delivery records, outage and restart behavior, power evidence and a documented recovery action. Separate the quoted SLA from what the pilot measured.
Use the existing cost workbook
Open the total-cost worksheet below and enter confirmed line items. Record included allowances and billing units alongside the usage assumption; do not present an empty provider quote as a free service. Attach the dated quote to your internal procurement record.
A response comparison that remains useful
For each question record supplier answer, supporting URL/document, effective date, market, assumptions, open issue and owner. Score completeness separately from price. The cheapest incomplete answer is not automatically the lowest lifetime cost.
Primary sources
Continue with your next decision
NEXT DECISION
Open the total-cost worksheet
Use the existing downloadable workbook with explicit assumptions.
NEXT DECISION
Open the pilot requirements brief
Define acceptance and failure behavior.