NCC, stakeholders parley on IoT spectrum, regulatory requirements

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Thursday as part of an effort to deepen internet penetration in the country met with stakeholders to exchange ideas and views on the Spectrum and regulatory requirements of Internet of Things (IoT).

Speaking at the Stakeholders Consultative Forum on emerging technologies held at the Lagos Sheraton Hotel with the theme’ “Regulatory Roadmap for IoT Ecosystem in Nigeria” Prof. Umar Danbatta said the NCC has continued to conduct studies on emerging technologies and their Spectrum and Regulatory requirement to ensure adequate availability of Spectrum for current and future use devoid of any harmful interference

“Internet of Things (IoT) is a system of interrelated computing devices, mechanical and digital machines, objects, animals or people that are provided with unique identifiers and the ability to transfer data over a network without requiring any human intervention (human-to-human or human-to-computer interaction).

“This is increasingly becoming important in the scheme of activities across most sectors of the economy which includes Education, Security, Military Reconnaissance    Commerce, Governance, Inventory Management, Health, Surveillance, Smart City Initiatives etc.

Prof. Danbatta explained that the applications of IoT are far-reaching.

“In the home, IoT can be used for home automation and control, lighting, temperature measurement, entertainment amongst others. Similarly, in industrial settings, Internet of Things (IoT) unites assets, advanced analytics and workers by using connected industrial devices to monitor, collect, exchange, and analyze insights to drive faster and better decision making.  Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) can be used to track inventory, improve the monitoring of product quality, and automate factories to make them run more efficiently.

He said with the advent of 5G technology, Nigeria is going to witness another dimension in the IoT Ecosystem as 5G technology is going to enable Massive Machine Type Communication (mMTC).

“GSMA Intelligence forecasts that IoT connections will reach almost 25 billion globally by 2025. With this pace of growth, it has become imperative to prepare for the Regulation of this important technology.

“Internet of things may be deployed as a standalone network of sensors, actuators and controllers or rely on a mobile operator’s network. Licensed or Unlicensed IoT are all Spectrum dependent and will certainly require our attention and that of our partners in this industry.

“Ladies and Gentlemen, as earlier said, at the Commission we are conscious of the importance of participatory Regulation through strategic partnership with Government and non-Government actors, it is for this reason therefore, that you are all invited here to provide comments and inputs on this very important topic.”