Page 87 - Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016

3 Regulation and the Internet of Things

Author: Prof. Ian Brown, Oxford Internet Institute, University of Oxford, United Kingdom 1

3.1 Introduction 3.2 Internet of Things concepts and
deployment
Plummeting electronics and communication costs
have set the stage for a rapid expansion of the The ITU-T’s definition of the IoT calls it “a global
Internet of Things (IoT). The billions of everyday infrastructure for the information society, enabling
physical items and appliances that now have advanced services by interconnecting (physical
sensors and network links will increasingly be able and virtual) things based on existing and evolving
to remotely share data about themselves, their interoperable information and communication
users and their environments. In the next decade, technologies .” This refers to the network of
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technology companies and consulting firms expect remotely linked tags, sensors and actuators
tens of billions of IoT devices to be deployed, with (motors and other mechanisms to cause an action
a total annual economic impact in the trillions of within a device) that are increasingly being built
US dollars . into objects throughout the physical world, driven
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by an ongoing rapid drop in the cost of microchips,
Companies manufacturing IoT devices are sensors and communication capacity.
only one part of a broader ecosystem of
organizations developing the IoT. The data created Collectively (and with slightly different nuances
by interconnected devices can be shared via and emphases) these technologies are also termed
communication networks, stored on application ubiquitous/pervasive computing, cyber-physical
platforms (including social media sites), and systems, smart environments/spaces/cities (shown
controlled by third-party applications. The in figure 3.2, and discussed in the next section),
information is then accessible from users’ smart the industrial Internet (focusing on manufacturing
phones (which themselves contain an increasingly processes), and ambient intelligence.
diverse range of sensors) .
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The term Machine-to-Machine (M2M)
This chapter examines the concepts, technologies, communications, meanwhile, is used to refer to
and societal changes influenced by the IoT and communications directly between IoT devices,
related technical developments. These include often via cellular networks. The mobile industry
convergence, cloud services, data analytics, the association GSMA predicts between 1 and 2 billion
proliferation of sensors, and the measuring and M2M connections by 2020 . This has regulatory
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monitoring of people, machines and things. implications for switching and roaming, as
Seen as a whole, this constitutes a shift from discussed later in the chapter.
human-to-human communications to machine-
to-machine (M2M) and everything-to-everything In addition to the wide range of terminology, the
communications. IoT takes in and enables a very broad range of
applications. A short list would describe more
The purpose of the chapter is to raise awareness efficient agriculture, manufacturing, logistics,
among the ICT regulatory community of the counterfeit detection, monitoring of people, stock,
changes caused by the advent of IoT. It will vehicles, equipment and infrastructure, along with
examine how this huge shift is impacting the improved healthcare and traffic management
consumers, businesses, governments and discussed already in this chapter. Moreover,
overall society. The most important regulatory there are applications for retailing, product
implications are in the areas of licensing, spectrum development and hydrocarbon exploration – and
management, standards, competition, security it doesn’t stop there. The IoT also enables new
and privacy. business models, such as car and truck rental

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