Your links sent me down a rabbit hole of Iot stuff and now I'm super excited about it. Had no idea that lte-m is so widespread.
It's only a matter of time before it's easier and cheaper to get any kind of networked devices onto a carrier network than the users wifi. The implications are kinda scary though: does this mean it's only a matter of time before the majority of personal devices talk to their users with a telco/govement middle man network?
Espressif also have a shorter distance but lower power option that uses WiFi tech called ESP-Now that is worth looking at: http://espressif.com/en/products/software/esp-now/overview