IoT equals lower ARPU?

“Surprisingly though, wireless providers themselves are one of the largest hurdles for advancing IoT, with many resisting adding connectivity to new devices due to fears of lower APRU metrics. CSPs must band together and embrace future innovation before competition edges them out. Perhaps creating an IoT MVNO is the transition necessary for addressing lower ARPU, while still fostering the innovation necessary to drive these new revenues.”
Humera Malik in this article.

Seriously??

Are CSPs really resisting IoT due to fears of lowering ARPU (Average Revenue Per User) figures? If so (and I have no reason to disbelieve Humera’s claims BTW), then aren’t the CSPs taking too narrow a perspective on what IoT represents? Are they really only looking at providing wireless data (and hence the low ARPU due to IoT generally being a low data volume telemetry-style service)?

Now I’m only a humble OSS consultant / engineer / architect / promoter, but why would the telcos not be seeking to build* the whole IoT ecosystem play, as discussed here, not just the data plumbing?

Would ARPUs from the whole IoT ecosystem (network, apps, content, sensor management, etc) be less than ARPUs of a traditional mobile user? Given that the ecosystem model is designed around the value fabric and revenues are shared amongst the players that are adding value, does ARPU remain the relevant metric for IoT for CSPs?

I’d love to get your opinions on this. Are telcos going to just provide the wireless data streams or should they (are they) aiming higher?

* When I say build, this could be in the value-fabric / partnership model of service offering.