The government is all set to put in place regulatory framework for Internet of Things (IoT).
Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) about this necessary development says that it had become crucial due to IoT’s potential impact on individuals and businesses, raises regulatory requirements such as licensing, numbering and addressing, spectrum management, network standards, data protection, privacy and security.
IoT basically is about sharing the information among different systems, different applications, and different business sectors. It is reaching all parts of the globe rapidly and being used by an increasing number of users worldwide.
The new set of rules will allow a more systematic use of IoT by different industries as the rules are required:
• For establishment of liability and ownership, for all the sectors.
• regulatory guidelines are also needed to be set forth for data collection, data analysis, data sharing, use of IoT data, data privacy, and data security
• The deployment of the IoT systems in multiple sectors, and their potential impact on individuals and businesses, raises regulatory requirements such as licensing, numbering and addressing, spectrum management, network standards, QoS, data protection, and privacy and security, etc.
• There is a need to formulate a comprehensive regulatory framework elaborating requirements for developments of the IoT ecosystem in licensed as well as unlicensed bands.
• Frequency bands for unlicensed IoT have been proposed by Frequency Allocation Board (FAB).
The Ministry of Information Technology and Telecommunications (MoIT&T) in Section 3(iii) of Telecom Policy-2015 has emphasized on forward looking to provision of the new services using latest technologies.
Later, the policy directive of the Ministry of IT on test and development of 5G dated October 16, 2017 had identified few bands for 5G and also required, to recommend, in consultation with industry/stakeholders, the suitable frequency bands in view of future technologies.
In view of this, and also keeping into consideration the latest trends of the IoT and 5G, PTA has created an industry working group.
The aim of this working group is primarily to: (a) Foresee the IoT future developments in Pakistan, and (b) To evaluate and recommend the possible regulatory options (requirements in terms of spectrum, data protection/privacy, roaming, numbering/addressing, device standardization/type approval, etc.), that the PTA and the Government of Pakistan may adopt to tackle the challenges and avail the opportunities offered by the IoT services/applications.
