Page 104 - Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016

Box 3.3: India’s smart cities programme
India is continuing its rapid pace of urbanization, and it expects urban areas to contribute almost
75 per cent of GDP within 15 years. To improve efficiency, employment opportunities and quality
of life, the government has embarked on a programme to create 100 smart, sustainable cities
(SSCs). The programme consists of 80 per cent public-private partnership assets and 20 per cent
public-funded basic infrastructure.

“Smart” services will include transport, building planning, water supply, solid waste management,
sewerage and sanitation, electricity, Wi-Fi connectivity, and health care and education elements,
with a total investment of USD 113 billion over 20 years. The services will be built around an
Internet Protocol core network, a broadband access network, building sensing and analytical
capabilities, and e-services websites for citizens. Shared infrastructure will include Wi-Fi in all
public places and small-cell deployment for high speed/capacity links.

TRAI, India’s telecoms regulator, has identified some policy and regulatory issues with the SSCs.
These include how to encourage sharing of common assets and resources; ensuring spectrum
availability for reasonable quality of service; avoiding electromagnetic frequency issues with large-
scale wireless sensor deployment; identifying and developing open standards (especially to enable
interoperability between sectors); data security; a numbering and addressing plan (including
customer addresses for M2M devices); and security and lawful interception for M2M devices.

Source: Telecom Regulatory Authority of India, Smart Sustainable Cities - Policy and Regulatory Issues for India, 2015.

difficulty in switching would arise if a device roams is important for devices that move between
into a different network area or, for some time countries, and also for fixed location devices that
period, could get better service from a different may be used in an area of short or long periods of
provider. This means that roaming capability service unavailability – often indoors .
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Figure 3.6: IoT spectrum

Source: Radio Spectrum Policy Group.

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