Machine to Machine communication ( M2M) licenses , Unified License |VNO including M2M service, UL/ UL VNO (M2M) licenses

Government of India has identified that M2M / Internet of Things (IoT) is one of the fastest emerging technologies across the globe, providing enormous beneficial opportunities for society, industry, and consumers. It is being used to create smart infrastructure in various verticals such as Power, Automotive, Safety & Surveillance, Remote Health Management, Agriculture, Smart Homes, Industry 4.0, Smart Cities, etc. using connected devices. Machine to Machine communication is going to play a major role and will contribute significantly towards Government of India’s initiative of Digital India and Make in India.

One of the Strategies for seamless delivery of converged services is to move towards a UL regime and facilitate delinking of licensing of networks from the Telco.
In convergence era same network can provide various services which are independent of network layer that means, the delivery of services can be provided one operator and network may be owned by distinct operator .

In order to strengthen the M2M ecosystem and to facilitate wider proliferation and
innovation in the sector, DoT had recently issued guidelines for (i) UL/ UL VNO (M2M) licenses and (ii) registration of M2MSP Service Providers and WPAN/WLAN Connectivity Providers.

In these guidelines, it has been envisaged that entities which are offering/providing the M2M services based on SIM/ LAN shall register as M2MSP and entities which use WPAN/WLAN technologies for providing M2M connectivity, operating in unlicensed spectrum, shall register as WPAN/WLAN Connectivity Providers. This registration shall help in addressing concerns like connectivity with TSPs, KYC, traceability and encryption for service providers.

On the other hand, the Licensees shall be the entities who own the underlying network to provide connectivity and related services for M2M service Providers. The Licensee can also provide M2M services exclusively through LPWAN or equivalent technologies using unlicensed/licensed spectrum.