Wait for M2M critical services definition likely to get longer
Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has sought more suggestions from the telecom regulator on critical services and their regulatory requirements.
«We will conduct a consultation with stakeholders on the reference from DoT regarding M2M services,» an official at the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (Trai) told ET.
The telecom industry is worried that any further delay in defining critical services would lead to security implications as currently most of the M2M communications, including in power and infrastructure sectors, are happening on non-licensed spectrum with no security parameters, putting such networks at risk.
Trai had given its recommendations on M2M communications back in 2017, asking DoT to identify critical services that should be provided only through connectivity providers, or telcos, using licensed spectrum.
The telecom industry had highlighted the security risks to DoT last year during the department's consultations with stakeholders on identifying critical services. To be sure, DoT had broadly accepted the recommendations of Trai on M2M communications. In March last year, DoT, through an inter-ministerial working group, identified 20 services as critical services and sought comments from all stakeholders in the M2M ecosystem, including all central ministries, regarding the same.
While DoT broadly agrees that critical services need to be provided through licensed spectrum, it has not yet defined and notified the services, and has now again sought help from Trai, officials said. The
