Embodiments of the present disclosure describe methods, computer-readable media and system configurations for data delivery among wireless machine-to-machine (“M2M”) and/or machine-type-communication (“MTC”) devices. A method may include receiving, from a plurality of wireless devices (e.g., user equipment or subscriber unit devices), a plurality of uplink data packets, and routing uplink data packets from a subset of the plurality of wireless devices into a logical data tunnel leading to an access gateway. The logical data tunnel may be persistent across sessions of the subset of the plurality of wireless devices. Additionally or alternatively, a method may include incorporating an M2M/MTC payload into data for establishing a connection between a wireless device and a radio access network (“RAN”), so that the wireless device may thereafter enter into an idle mode. Other embodiments may be described and/or claimed.