India's Department of Telecom (DoT) amended telecom licences to enable service providers to roll out machine-to-machine (M2M) communication in the country.
M2M is regarded as a critical factor in 5G adoption. The change has been made to all levels of telecom service licenses.
M2M communication service is being offered by TSPs over their commercial network and technology and where both the sides just happen to be machines, earlier from P2P, A2P, and P2A communication.
As per DoT, 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. M2M is also called Machine Type Communication (MTC) in 3GPP.
According to a PTI report, while the DoT had issued the M2M guidelines in May 2018, the clause relating to their provision was not a part of the telecom licence. The DoT in the licence amendment has incorporated M2M with a pan-India permit, limited to circle level and district level, according to a circular.
The DoT has also added a clause for the provision of Audiotex or Interactive Voice Response Service (IVRS) as part of the telecom license.
