NEW DELHI: As M2M communication is an upcoming vertical covering variety of issues, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India has for the second time extended the date for responses to its paper to 12 January 2017 and for counter-comments up to the 19 January 2017.
Noting that no further extension will be given, TRAI has said that the second extension follows the request by industry associations due to cross sectoral impact of M2M and lnternet of Things.
TRAI has written to all the state governments and union territories and various ministries of central government seeking their inputs for the sectors those are foreseen to get impacted with the deployment of M2M devices. Inputs from wider consultation with state governments & UTs and various Ministries will be valuable in forming a comprehensive recommendation by the Authority.
The Consultation Paper is on "Spectrum, Roaming and QoS related requirements in Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications" dated 18 October 2016.
In the paper which posed 16 questions, TRAI said the digital space had witnessed exponential evolution in the last couple of years and would continue to evolve rapidly. The latest entrant to the digital space is the Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications.
Expansion and evolution of networks, falling costs of hardware like sensors and actuators, increasing battery life, new business models etc are the major factors leading to the emergence of services like remote monitoring of patients, automatic security systems, connected cars, smart grid etc. The connected devices deliver innovative services by utilising the M2M communication technologies.
M2M communication has potential to bring substantial social and economic benefits to governments, citizens, end-users and businesses through increase in productivity and competitiveness, improvements in service delivery, optimal use of scarce resources as well as creation of new jobs.
Although forecasts indicate a significant opportunity in this field, this industry is still in a nascent stage. The M2M ecosystem is composed of a large number of diverse players, deploying innovative services across different networks, technologies and devices. Providing clarity and consistency of regulation for equivalent services, as well as policies that enable growth, will play a significant role in fully capturing its opportunity to stimulate this market.
The government has recognised the potential of M2M communication and emphasized the same in the National Telecom Policy (NTP) 2012.
Accordingly in May 2015, the Government had come out with its 'National Telecom M2M roadmap' with the purpose of boosting development of M2M based products and to provide efficient citizen centric services in India.
The paper is available on the TRAI website trai.gov.in
