by Webbing Team | July 30, 2025
Machines that act on their own are often imagined as humanoid robots or self-driving taxis cruising through city streets. But in reality, other autonomous vehicles and mobile robots have been around for quite some time, and they play a vital role in automation across a wide range of industries. In mines, ports, warehouses, and factories, thousands of automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are hard at work every day, operating where human labor is difficult or even unsafe.
The first AGV was introduced in 1953 in the US, a tow truck that followed a wire in the floor instead of a rail. Today, AGVs are far more intelligent, they have evolved to use magnetic tape and laser-based navigation, but they still operate along fixed routes and are ideal to perform repetitive tasks. AMRs emerged more recently, in 2010, with advances in sensors such as LiDAR and cameras. Unlike AGVs, they don’t need fixed paths: onboard systems give them the capability to understand their surroundings and make decisions in real time. It makes AMRs flexible and allows them to be used in situations where conditions are constantly changing.
Both AGVs and AMRs are widely used in various industries, including logistics, manufacturing, mining, retail, and transportation to automate material handling and inspection tasks. AGVs move pallets and containers or supply assembly lines with parts, while AMRs deliver tools between workstations and perform tasks like shelf scanning. In smart ports, AGVs and AMRs streamline container movement and yard management.
An important part of Industry 4.0, AGVs and AMRs help businesses increase efficiency and reduce operational costs by minimizing manual labor. When they replace human workers, these robots lower error rates, enable 24/7 operations, and enhance workplace safety. This enables end-to-end automation and “lights-out operations” at largely unmanned facilities. Their rapid adoption reflects this impact: in 2024, over 200,000 AGV and AMR units were deployed globally, a 25% increase compared to 2022. Different forecasts estimate the installed base of mobile robots to range from 2.5 to 4 million units globally by 2027–2030.
Cellular connectivity is a key enabler for AMRs and AGVs, especially when they are used beyond simple indoor scenarios and involved in mobile and large-scale operations. These robots need continuous connectivity for critical functions such as remote monitoring, mission updates, rerouting, telemetry, and fleet coordination. Unlike Wi-Fi or wired infrastructure, cellular technology can offer stable and ubiquitous coverage even at large facilities, both indoors and outdoors, and more importantly, during transitions between sites.
Let’s look at some of the use cases to see how mobile robots are enabled by cellular technology:
Indoor Logistics
In manufacturing plants and warehouses, both AGVs and AMRs are used to transport materials, such as pallets or components, between workstations and storage areas. While AGVs often use private LTE and may even rely on Wi-Fi, AMRs demand more advanced connectivity to support their real-time navigation and dynamic task execution. Cellular, particularly private 5G, offers an alternative to Wi-Fi, which can suffer from interference or dead zones.
A good example of indoor use of cellular connectivity is LG home appliance factory in Clarksville, Tennessee, which uses around 200 AGVs and AMRs to move materials throughout the factory floor. Rather than having forklift traffic going through the factory, all the products, once produced, are loaded into carts and moved by AGVs and AMRs to and from each of the factory’s processes. The factory began transitioning from Wi-Fi to private 5G due to reliability issues with the Wi-Fi network, which would occasionally disconnect. LG applied 5G to the AMR and AGV robots first, because of its reliability and ability to transfer large amounts of data.
Outdoor Logistics
AGVs and AMRs are also used in outdoor settings such as industrial campuses or port terminals. In fact, seaport automation is one of the most widespread usage scenarios for AGVs: in 2023, ABI Research forecast that seaports worldwide will deploy over 370,000 AGVs by 2027 to alleviate congestion. In this type of use cases, AGVs typically transport heavy loads such as containers or equipment between buildings and storage zones, while AMRs perform more flexible tasks like conducting inspections.
These outdoor settings can be challenging for both AGVs and AMRs in terms of connectivity. AGVs need reliable data connection for status updates and safety monitoring across long distances, so they must be capable of roaming on public cellular networks. AMRs, with their more complex navigation and perception tasks, require high-throughput and low-latency connectivity for streaming data that supports real-time decision-making. For these use cases, public and private 5G networks – or a hybrid model combining both – can provide roaming capabilities and reliable bandwidth.
Urban and Campus Delivery
Along with industrial zones, AGVs and AMRs can be used in different types of open environments, such as university campuses or urban neighborhoods, and in this case, they transform into mobile delivery robots. Technically, AGVs may operate on fixed outdoor routes to deliver goods across enclosed areas, but they are rare and limited to specialized use cases. AMRs dominate this space, because they can deliver food and parcels to the city zones among unpredictable pedestrians and traffic.
In this use case, AMRs are 100% dependent on public 4G and 5G networks. Their real-time telemetry and video streams are very demanding in terms of bandwidth and latency. Besides, if a robot or AGV encounters a complex situation, a human operator can step in and take control remotely, and all communications between the robots and the operator also rely on public cellular networks. Remote operation of delivery robots via public mobile networks is not rare: for instance, in Los Angeles and Chicago, DoorDash is using Coco Robotics’ remotely-piloted robots with multiple cameras and sensors providing real-time video over LTE/5G to remote operators.
Connectivity Requirements
Depending on the use case, AGVs and AMRs may use private or public networks, or a combination of both. But there are some connectivity features that are relevant for all use cases.
Coverage
One of the main challenges is maintaining reliable coverage. While 4G and 5G networks are ubiquitous, signal consistency can vary significantly, especially indoors or in large industrial zones like mines or ports. Weak connectivity in these areas can interrupt mission-critical tasks that rely on a stable connection, such as navigation. To address these issues, companies often deploy cellular repeaters or private networks.
Webbing guarantees coverage in over 190 countries and territories through partnerships with more than 600 mobile operators. Webbing’s solutions support connectivity across multiple networks in any location, minimizing the risk of downtime due to network outages or poor coverage.
Latency
Latency is another critical factor, especially for AMRs that rely on real-time data processing for decision-making. But even AGVs can be a good illustration of the importance of latency. Singapore has the second largest port in the world, and by 2040 aims to open the new Tuas Mega Port, the world’s largest automated container terminal. Currently, port operator PSA is using 4G to operate AGVs. With existing network latency, PSA has to allocate significant space for the AGVs to maneuver and ensure there is sufficient margin for error when the AGVs navigate. With the deployment of 5G SA pilot, the operator achieved a minimum network latency of 10ms, a reduction by 50% compared to the previous 4G network, so AGVs can operate within a much more confined space. It also enables PSA to increase the number of AGVs in operation, resulting in improved productivity.
Theoretically, 5G networks can deliver latency as low as 1ms. That said, it is important to remember that actual latency depends on the connectivity provider’s core network architecture, since the data needs to travel all the way to the provider’s data center before going to its destination.
Webbing is a full MVNO owning a fully redundant, distributed core network with data centers on every continent. It features local breakouts to support high-performance connectivity and ensures minimal latency in every usage scenario. Last year, Webbing further enhanced its global network by adding new data centers in Japan, Singapore, and Australia.
Seamless Connectivity
For robots that move between buildings, seamless handover between networks is essential. This is especially true for large facilities that implemented private networks, such as smart ports. While operating here, mobile robots need to switch between cell towers and possibly roam across carriers, but also transition between private and public networks. All this must happen without disrupting robot operation. Achieving this requires advanced SIM management and coordinated mobile network support, which are often complex to implement.
Webbing’s eSIM solution ensures failover connectivity with the capability of using multiple mobile carrier profiles and an option to fall back from a failing profile to a different profile without any need to communicate with a remote server or deal with multiple SIM cards. It helps enterprises that need access to private and public networks to ensure continuous data connectivity for their AGVs and AMRs. Easily set business rules help determine automatic profile allocation based on location and enable fallback mechanisms in case of private network failure or coverage issues.
Scalability
In environments with dozens or hundreds of robots, scaling also introduces integration complexity. It involves managing SIMs, working with telecom carriers, and configuring network settings. Cost is another factor that scales with deployment. For large fleets or robots that transmit high volumes of data, cellular costs can quickly become a major operational expense.
Webbing offers a centralized eSIM management platform that streamlines provisioning and lifecycle operations at scale. Through a single portal, organizations can manage eSIMs in bulk, define business rules to automate profile swaps when connectivity is lost or a location changes, and gain visibility into profile usage and network events. This simplifies operations, reduces manual intervention, and enhances control over AGV and AMR connectivity.
Additionally, the ability to easily and remotely provision connectivity to devices significantly improves the ease of scaling deployments. Whether rolling out dozens or thousands of connected AGV and AMR, the process remains efficient, standardized, and carrier-agnostic.
A flexible approach to data packages allows Webbing to tailor our connectivity offering for every customer based on the type of connected devices and their data consumption needs as well as the locations where the devices are used, aiming at overall optimization of the total cost of operations for the client.
Compliance with Regulations
Finally, there are regulatory considerations. In many regions, the use of cellular modules in machines must comply with national telecom laws. This may include SIM registration requirements or restrictions on cross-border communication. Navigating these regulations can be particularly challenging for vendors who deploy internationally, for failure to comply can delay deployments or result in fines.
Webbing’s network supports all types of connectivity regulations, so it’s easy to comply with local and regional regulatory requirements. Webbing can also seamlessly localize deployments utilizing Remote SIM Provisioning even in heavily regulated markets.
Webbing’s Connectivity Solution for AGVS and AMRs
Webbing offers a connectivity solution that ensures global access to reliable and high-quality internet, with low latency and the best of class coverage. It provides secure and continuous internet connection for mobile robot, wherever they need it.
Webbing is a global connectivity provider with a distributed full core network with local breakouts, multiple network solution, and data server redundancy that provides connectivity stability and low latency. As such, Webbing’s network is well suited to support mission-critical, high-data consumption type of use cases.
Our eSIM solution ensures failover connectivity with the capability of using multiple mobile carrier profiles, easily changing carriers at any time with zero integration, and an option to fall back from a failing profile to a different profile without any need to communicate with a remote server or deal with multiple SIM cards.
Our solutions help enterprises that deploy AGVs and AMRs overcome their connectivity challenges and optimize costs for global deployments, providing the benefits of roaming with multiple carrier options in every country, and seamless transition between carriers, while maintaining low rates and low latency on a global scale with a single SIM.
Reach out to learn more about Webbing’s connectivity solutions for AGVs and AMRs.
