## 7 Assumptions and Limitations  
This paper focuses on quantifying the economic and financial viability of NB-IoT and LoRaWAN technologies, which are two low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) technologies with unique characteristics suitable for IoT applications. This study aims to propose an artifact for performing life cycle cost analysis and demonstrate its application to these technologies. The methodology utilizes pragmatic computational tools to facilitate the analysis and considers various economic and financial factors, including operating costs, equipment costs, and revenue potential.  
There are assumptions like the development of hardware and the communication costs for NB-IoT and LoRaWAN follow a similar trend over time. However, if the expected costs decrease, the evaluation may shift towards NB-IoT. The costs of employees actively involved in the LoRaWAN implementation are explicitly included.  
The main finding of this study indicates that NB-IoT and LoRaWAN technologies have distinct cost structures and revenue potentials, influencing their economic and financial viability for different IoT applications. It concludes that a comprehensive life cycle cost analysis is crucial for informed decision-making regarding technology adoption. Furthermore, the proposed methodology can be applied to other IoT technologies to gain insights into their economic and financial viability.  
In terms of future relevance, Design Science Research is particularly suitable for generating practical and impactful research outcomes while ensuring scientific rigor. This research approach will play an increasingly important role in the planning, design, and implementation of innovations and will gain recognition among research methodologies.  
Further research is needed to validate the tool in other use cases and to refine the tool to better reflect the specific requirements and characteristics of each scenario. The cost calculators developed for NB-IoT and LoRaWAN aim to provide a quick and efficient way to estimate the expected costs of these networks. The calculators are designed to provide a clear overview of where and in which phase these costs are incurred, as well as to compare the two network types in terms of costs.  
This study, however, has certain limitations. It is expected to yield incremental innovations rather than groundbreaking research results, with a focus on improving products, processes, and systems through validation. Additionally, the analysis did not consider other communication technologies. The evaluation of the artifact was conducted with a specific target audience involved in the Smart City domain. It is important to note that the calculators are not intended to evaluate the suitability of a particular technology and should not be used as a substitute for later cost accounting [33]. Additionally, the calculators cannot map all contingencies and special cases that may arise during the implementation and operation of these networks.  
Furthermore, certain aspects are not considered in the cost calculators. These include the cost of capital, interest payments, depreciation, inflation/deflation rate, electricity price development, revenue generated by the network (in the case of LoRaWAN), safety aspects, network coverage, and other technical aspects of the networks. Therefore, it is important to use the calculators in conjunction with other tools and resources to fully evaluate the costs and suitability of each network type for a particular use case.