Asia-Pacific II 2011 (15)

Theme:  When things generate more data than we do

Machine-to-machine communications, is a market-changing force - it’s not that big yet, but the change is coming soon. M2M, is the automatic sharing of data between machines, between sensors and devices of all types. Although sometimes called the Internet of Things, and the Internet Protocol is often used, the Internet itself is often bypassed in favour of connections via, say, GSM devices or via satellite for remote field operations. Most M2M interactions take place without human intervention continuously, at programmed intervals or when a sensor of some sort detects an ‘event’ or reaches a pre-programmed threshold. With M2M, utility meters, household appliances, factory equipment, automotive devices, ATMs, point-of-sale displays, cameras, remote sensors, laptops, remote health monitors and much more can be interconnected to support application that improve productivity, safety, efficiency and convenience. Some forecasts predict 50 billion machine-to-machine connections by 2020.

Today most of M2M applications use cellular networks and most of the data exchanges amount to little more than a weekly or hourly status update via text message. But new uses for M2M arise each day and many of them are ‘always on’ - always, or almost, transmitting or receiving. Imagine, for one, readers programmed to constantly download the latest news streams, books, films and concerts.

Currently, most M-2-M traffic is on GSM networks, but it will increasingly run on the Internet, cable systems, satellites, indeed via any and every channel that can handle the traffic.

With a growing number of devices and the proliferation of data hungry applications, it won’t be long before machines will generate more data traffic than people do. What then are the implications of this massive shift in traffic patterns for networks service providers, the ICT sector, users and society as a whole?