TRAI has floated a consultation paper on M2M (Machine-to-Machine) Communications and has invited comments from all stakeholders by 15th November, 2016 and counter-comments by 29th November, 2016.
The government of India has recognised the potential of M2M Communications and in May 2015 has come out with 'National Telecom M2M roadmap' with the purpose of boosting growth of M2M based products and to provide efficient citizen centric services in India.
Broadly, Machine to machine (M2M) refers to technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same ability. M2M uses a device (such as a sensor or meter) to capture an event, which is relayed through a network (wireless, wired or hybrid) to an application, that translates the captured event into meaningful information.
M2M is also called as Internet of Things (IoT), Internet of Everything (IoE), smart systems (homes, cities, meters, grids etc). In the coming decade it is expected that millions of IoT devices will be deployed in electric meters, parking meters, thermostats, car components, roads etc. IoT devices will send data directly using protocols such as Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and via mobile networks, specialized networks and over the global network.
Industry analysts estimate the number of connected devices could be anywhere from 20 billion to 100 billion by 2020. Machina Research 2012, has projected approximately 275 million connected devices in India by 2020.
Launch of various government programs such as "Digital India", "Smart City", "Make in India" and "Startup India" will also help immensely in driving the growth of the M2M/IoT industry in the country.
In addition, many mega projects will utilise IoT such as: Setting up of 14 smart grid pilots by ministry of power and mandating the commercial passenger vehicles of more than 22 seating capacity, to be equipped with GPS, emergency calls etc. by ministry of road transport.
While formulating Machine to machine consultation paper, the authority has realised regulatory aspects such as: licensing framework for M2M service providers; entry fee for M2M service providers; quantum of spectrum required to meet M2M communications requirement; know your customer (KYC) norms for M2M devices; numbering scheme; inter-operability of devices between different sectors; national roaming for Machine to machine/IoT; international roaming policy for machines; technical challenges in implementation; allocation and utilization of various network codes; data protection; and privacy issues.
