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Pillar: No-Code OSS

Have Telecom Operators Been Active in IoT Development?

Where do the internet of things operations get their signals from? Learn how is this situation been handled by the telecom industry nowadays.

By Francisco Gastiazoro

TL;DR

Where do the internet of things operations get their signals from? Learn how is this situation been handled by the telecom industry nowadays.

Key takeaways

  • Where do IoT operations get their signals from?
  • Have major telecom operators had any role in this at this point?
  • Home Wi-Fi Technology is transforming homes into “connected homes” but we will have to wait a few years to dispose of a Wi-Fi that can respond to the needs of the IoT ecosystem.

Where do IoT operations get their signals from? Have major telecom operators had any role in this at this point?

Home Wi-Fi Technology is transforming homes into “connected homes” but we will have to wait a few years to dispose of a Wi-Fi that can respond to the needs of the IoT ecosystem. What are the first steps?

Different Technical Emphasis

The main difference is that the Internet is a requested service. The customer asks for assistance. Units of Internet service are sold on the basis of consumer demand. IoT services are delivered when events trigger service delivery. IoT delivery consists of sensors or combinations of encoded sensors that activate events. It is not so much about interpretable information as it is about switching. Not that the switching is simple. Triggers for the IoT are often complex and patterned signals from a range of sources. The patterning is called “situation detection.”

On the Internet, a connection is made when a user activates a link between web pages. In IoT, the pattern that signals a situation is present, a combination of data from various sources both data and patterning triggers an action.

  • Humans create the content of the Internet. Machines generate IoT content.
  • Internet content is consumed when requested. In IoT, an action is triggered by a pattern of event detection.
  • In the Internet, content is combined with variable links. In IoT, content is generated by specific patterns of events.
  • The Internet is designed to answer questions. IoT is designed to generate timely action.
  • The Internet has progressed through the development of HTML language and search engines. The IoT has progressed by improved event detection.

Both the Internet and the IoT have distinct value to the consumer. The value of the Internet has to do with human interest and inquiry. The value of the IoT is timely action or notifications based on surveillance for detected situations.

The Internet is a mature technology which consumers can use without technical skills. It uses language which is easy to understand and link with daily speech and writing. The IoT is in the early stages of stages of development. The way data is integrated is invented as needed and requires skilled programmers to implement each application.

IoT Development and Internet Provisioning are From Different Families

Internet service providers and IoT service providers come from different families. Jim Machi General Manager of Sangoma, asks “What would an IoT Service Provider Even Do?” By that, he means that in the IoT everything is connected. All the machines have sensors and are connected via a network. Not much for the service provider to do except maintenance and connecting more devices. Most, but not all machines don’t use much bandwidth, and they are fine with low bit rates.

Some machines, like self-driving cars, require IoT connections that are super fast. The technical demand for setting up the 5G potential to handle those requirements while maintaining the less demanding system will probably mean a two-tier system of IoT service provision. The question is, is it possible to design an IoT service operation with a network that could handle the requirements of 25 billion machines?

  • IoT service providers can provide the “pipe” for new IoT technology.
  • IoT providers will have to specialize to meet the requirements of tens of billions of connected devices with different requirements.
  • IoT providers will be evaluating the use of the virtualization and the cloud-based infrastructure for the IoT.

Initially, what is now the Internet of Things (IoT) was called machine to machine communications (M2M). The difference between wifi service providers and M2M service providers was in their business models. Technology is the same for both kinds of service delivery. Internet service providers are not heavily invested in the IoT (with the possible exception of companies like Bell). Providers of internet services are still faced with maintaining their networks against competition from mobile service providers and alternative means of distributing signal against a background of market stagnation.

Home Wi-Fi Technology is transforming homes into “connected homes” but we will have to wait a few years to dispose of a Wi-Fi that can respond to the needs of the IoT ecosystem. Which are the first steps to be done?

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