Expect huge machine-to-machine growth in India in 2016-17: UST Global

New Delhi: US-headquartered UST Global that offers machine-to-machine (M2M) solutions and application development services expects massive growth in M2M adoption in 2016-17 in India, driven by 3G and 4G services.

"With 1.25 billion population and 800-million strong mobile subscriber base, India holds huge potential for M2M solutions, and with proliferation of 3G and 4G services, exponential growth for M2M transactions is expected in 2016-17," Vivek Varshney, the company's Global VP and Global Head, Telecom Practice, told ET.

Machine to Machine (M2M) refers to technologies that allow both wireless and wired systems to communicate with other devices of the same type.

The company offers application services and works with third-party device vendors to develop innovation-centric solutions for telecom service operators in the M2M segment.

Varshney feels that there is a lot of scope of M2M services in the government's ambitious Rs 7,000-crore 'Smart City' program and added that new applications will come out on M2M networks.

Services such as security and surveillance, remote monitoring of ATM machines, home automation, traffic management, retail, logistics and grid energy could eventually facilitate optimization of resources.

The company believes that as the service operators joining the 4G bandwagon, the high-speed data services would fuel M2M in India while Big Data and analytics will play a pivotal role in shaping the business landscape.

M2M is in its infancy in India with the government expected to come out with know-your-customers (KYC) norms soon. The absence of a desired infrastructure and murky ecosystem is only adding to the industry's woes.

"The (Indian) government is working on standards and interoperability of devices. We are expecting decision on KYC for identification of devices sometime soon," he said.

UST Global said that they are working with a "few large telcos" in India, but the top executive declined to reveal further details, citing confidentiality reasons.

The US firm feels that telecom service operators have a key role to play since data-connected devices would be a pre-requisite. It said that application service providers should come together for innovation-led M2M solutions.

Varshney feels that data privacy remains a pain point as information would be shared and leveraged with third-party vendors and they hope that the government would address the issue while formulating the policy framework.

Disclaimer: This information has been collected through secondary research and IBEF is not responsible for any errors in the same.