All existing telecom service providers can be allowed to provide Machine-to-Machine (M2M) or IoT solutions within their specified circle of operations, telecom regulator TRAI said in its recommendations. License holders can use existing spectrum to provide IoT services while TRAI is also considering de-licensing spectrum under the 867-868 MHz, 915-935 MHz and 57-64 GHz bands for M2M and IoT. The regulator has also put forward recommendations on SIM roaming, Quality of Service levels, privacy, security, and other aspects of IoT/M2M. Below is a lowdown of the recommendations Note that these recommendations will be reviewed and approved by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and are not yet enforced. 1) Who can provide M2M/IoT services? DoT license holders including VNOs: Like pointed out above all basic service (data, voice) licensees, Virtual Network Operators (VNOs), and ISPs are allowed to provide M2M service in India “including on unlicensed band, within the area of their existing authorizations, barring M2M cellular services,” TRAI said. Critical IoT/M2M services should be provided under licensed spectrum: The government, through DoT, should identify critical services and differentiate them from non-critical services, the regulator said. IoT and M2M applications in healthcare, remote surgery, driverless cars etc. require high QoS, ultra reliability, very low latency, very high availability and accountability. Therefore, these critical services should be provided only by “robust wired optical fiber, copper network or LTE capable access networks,” TRAI added. Each sector can have its own IoT regulations: IoT and M2M services are still at a very nascent…
