Regulatory State of Play IoT Machine-to-Machine (M2M) Communications

Suruchi Kotoky

India has one of the world’s most vibrant telecom markets, with more than 1170.45 million telecom subscribers, poised to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 9.4% until 2025. It is somewhat surprising, then, that the laws governing India’s telecom boom have been rooted in the 19th century! The Indian Telegraph Act dates back to 1885, and is still the grundnorm for all telecom regulations in India. It is only now, in 2022, that India has proposed a new telecommunications bill to replace the venerable 1885 act.

That India requires a comprehensive framework for telecom regulations is clear. In addition to addressing issues such as spam calls, OTT, etc., an interesting area of regulation would be the use of telecom technology for the Internet of Things (“IoT”). Earlier this year, in July 2022, the current Indian telecom regulator (“TRAI”) released a paper on using embedded SIMs for Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications. This is not the first time the telecom regulator has touched upon this increasingly important topic. With increasing interest in the M2M communications field, it is worth examining the regulatory state of play.

Let us deal with some basics first. M2M communication is a form of data communication that involves one or more entities that do not necessarily require human interaction or intervention in the process of communication. Such communication may be by way of internet or otherwise. When devices connect through means of an internet, it becomes part of the Internet of Things system.

M2M communications inter alia allows devices to connect over the Internet and thereby has the potential to transform the outreach and performance of any sector through the means of automation and intelligence to end devices. Examples include vehicle tracking, smart metering, ATM, wearable health devices, point of sale, smart parking, street light control system, etc.

The Indian policy framework uses the term IoT and M2M interchangeably at times. The regulatory framework on M2M Communications have been developing with Department of Telecommunications (“DoT”) being the front runner and nodal authority, recognizing such emerging technologies, as early as 2016.

TRAI in its Consultation Paper dated July 25, 2022 has identified the following as part of the M2M Ecosystem:

1. Device Manufacturer/Provider: These are the device manufacturer responsible to provide raw data to the network provider and application provider, according to the business model.

2. Connectivity/ Network Provider: These are the connectivity providers, owning underlying network to provide connectivity and related services for M2M Service providers

3. M2M Service Provider: These provide M2M services to third parties using telecom resource.

4. M2M Application Provider: These provide M2M Application to end users.

5. End user: These are user of M2M services.

These stakeholders mingle in a way that enables firstly, a device (e.g. sensor) to capture an event (e.g. location), then the same is is relayed through a network (wireless, wired or hybrid) to an application (software program), and lastly, it translates the captured event into meaningful information to the end user.

We provide below a gist of the key policy framework developments in respect of M2M communications:

Date	Nature of Document	What it provides?
9 December, 2016	DoT letter	​DoT approved the 13-digit numbering scheme for SIM based M2M devices.
26 September, 2018	National Digital Communications Policy 2018	​It recognized and seeks to enable, harness and expand M2M services. It also aims to create a roadmap for emerging technologies and its use, including IoT.
16 May, 2018	DoT Instructions	These provided for instructions for implementing restrictive features for SIMs used only for M2M communications. These also provided KYC instructions for issuing M2M SIMs to entity/organization providing M2M communication services.
30 May, 2019	​DoT Instructions	Restrictive features for M2M Connections as contained in the above DoT instructions dated May 16, 2018 were further relaxed. For instance, outgoing/incoming calls, data communications and SMS were now allowed from 4 (four) numbers than the earlier restrictions to 2 (two) numbers only).
14 January, 2022	Revised Terms and Conditions for sale/rent of international roaming SIM Cards/Global Calling Cards of Foreign Operators in India	NOC from DoT is mandated for sale/rent of international roaming SIM Cards/Global Calling Cards of Foreign Operators in India. This also contains a provision for innovative solutions, wherein DoT will decide whether NOC is required for such innovative solutions, on case to case basis.
17 January, 2022	Guidelines for grant of unified license	It is in pursuance to “one nation-one license” across services and service areas. Unified License along with authorisation can be applied for M2M services as well. Applicant needs to be an Indian company.
8 February, 2022	Guidelines for registration process of M2M Service Providers and WPAN/WLAN Connectivity Providers for M2M Services.	Mandates inter alia for registration of M2M Service providers (Indian company/partner) utilizing telecom facilities from authorized TSPs. M2M Services and M2M Service Providers are defined in these regulations – this involves provision of M2M services to third parties, using a telecom network. If applicable, the Applicant has to declare in Application, if it is using foreign TSP SIM along with the name of such foreign TSP.
16 February, 2022	​Constitution of M2M Committees	Two committees have been set up viz. M2M Policy Reform Committee and M2M Consultative Committee to discuss, analyse issues and suggest initiatives relating to M2M ecosystem.
25 July, 2022	​Consultation Paper on Embedded SIM for M2M Communications	This is a draft paper for which public comments were closed on October 3, 2022. Public comments were received from 15 companies, including Reliance, Airtel, Vodafone, Tata. These delve into embedded SIM for M2M communications and recognizes varied SIM based M2M communication.

We also understand that a policy specific for M2M technology is underway and may be introduced next year.

With this, it becomes apparent that the policy framework in India is attempting to catch up with the new emerging technologies and the potential of M2M communication has duly recognized in the TRAI Consultation Paper as well, which states that “M2M technology has the potential to unleash significant productivity gain and economic growth, unlike any previous technology wave.”