DoT may come out with roadmap for IoT soon
20 April 2015 1:30 AM GMT
M2M communications or ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) is a network of devices that communicate among themselves using IP connectivity without human intervention. According to sources, the Department of Telecom (DoT) has prepared a roadmap for M2M communications and is likely to finalise it soon.
“DoT is coming up with a National Telecom M2M Roadmap, which will provide all the M2M ecosystem partners in India to have a reference document,” sources said. The Telecommunication Engineering Centre (TEC), a unit of DoT, has been working on framing the standards for M2M communication.
M2M will bring multi-fold devices on the network, impacting almost every aspect of life of common people which will result in substantial social and economic benefits to consumers, businesses and government. “This is going to be the key enabler for the government vision of Digital India, Make in India and proposed smart cities in the country,” a DoT official said.
The official said main issues towards M2M communications include specific M2M standards which are in line with global standards, KYC norms for M2M services, allocation of spectrum for M2M last mile connectivity, revision of national numbering plan to accommodate M2M needs, privacy issues and data protection. Elaborating on the use of M2M technology, the official added farm land can be made smart by putting sensors which will tell when to do watering by measuring soil humidity level, small wearable devices can measure vital parameters of a patient like temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate etc with the help of M2M.
“Likewise smart vehicles, smart power grids and disaster management can be made more efficient by using M2M technology,” he said. Giving an example, the official said Japan has achieved 35 per cent energy saving by use of M2M adoption, whereas in Malaysia, agriculture productivity has improved by almost 40 per cent using M2M technology. “M2M has potential to bring new options of local manufacturing for devices, sensors for different sectors, R&D and related services, which will boost manufacturing sector and employment generation,” he added. The official said government is making all possible efforts to bring complete ecosystem around M2M.
Net Neutrality: Trai says ‘shrill voices’ won’t win
As the uproar continues in favour of Net Neutrality, telecom watchdog Trai Chairman Rahul Khullar on Sunday said “shrill voices” will not win the debate and the concept is not “practiced strictly” even in countries like the US and the UK. The principle of Net Neutrality calls for equal treatment to be accorded to all Internet traffic, without discrimination or priority for any person, entity or company.
While Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) has floated a discussion paper on this topic, a raging debate has broken out in the country following the launch of platforms like Airtel Zero and internet.org. “There has to be democratic debate. It’s a debate that is waiting to happen. Shrill voices do not win debate. Cool headed reasoned arguments on both sides are need of the hour,” Khullar told PTI in an interview. “There are different practices in different jurisdictions. UK and parts of Europe do not practice strict net-neutrality. Even in US zero rating plans are permissible,” he said, while replying to a question on whether India was in a position to align with the global net-neutrality principles. In response to its paper, for which public comments have been sought till April 24, Trai has already been flooded with over 8 lakh petitions against any attempt to throttle ‘net neutrality’ concept.
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