taken off the shelves, as well as replacing stolen or damaged products. Customer payment systems can be tied-in automatically, signalling the need to re-stock whenever sales reach a trigger point. Managers can monitor customer flows within each store, allowing changes in store layout.Manufacturers can embed sensors throughout their production processes, enabling much more precise control and enhancing both efficiency and quality, while significantly lowering waste, energy use, the risk of accidents and product damage12. Similar techniques can be used through the whole lifecycle of equipment, vehicles, and the built environment, allowing for just-in-time repairs that minimize downtime and repair costs. And farmers can use IoT systems to monitor soil and crop conditions, precisely adjusting planting and pesticide use to maximize yields and minimize environmental impacts, while enabling better food traceability13.Businesses likely will continue to be the biggest users of IoT technologies. One analysis estimated that by 2019, enterprises will be using 40 per cent – 9.1 billion – of all of the deployed inter-connected devices, with the highest-spending industry sectors being manufacturing, transportation and warehousing, and information14. Another analysis predicted that by 2020 there will be 2.1 billion machine-to-machine device connections, with two-thirds of these in utilities industries, one-fifth in security applications, and smaller numbers in the automotive and transport sectors, healthcare, government, retail and financial services. Applications will spread from developed to emerging economies, from limited commercial markets to a broad spread of consumer applications15.3.3.2 Consumer applications Many of the IoT applications coming online now have direct consumer impacts. For example, shoppers can take advantage of RFID tags, using smart phones to access online information about products from the manufacturer or the retailer, or from independent reviewers and even friends, Trends in Telecommunication Reform 2016 73 Chapter 3 Figure 3.3: Machine-to-machine (M2M) services Source: Beecham Research.