Does Singapore need an M2M regulatory framework?

With machine-to-machine communicaton rising there is now a call for more supportive policies.

The growth of so-called M2M technologies will be hampered in the region, warns Detecon International in a new opinion paper, if Singapore and its neighboring countries lag in creating accommodative regulations.

"Unless the countries in Southeast Asia create a specific regulatory framework, machine-to-machine communication (M2M) will be unable to develop into a successful market. More than any other factors, the high costs for switching providers and the expense of roaming - a consequence of the almost complete lack of specific M2M fees - are obstacles to M2M growth," said Detecon.

"Whether Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, or Thailand - none of these countries currently have a regulatory framework specific for M2M in place. However, Singapore and Malaysia, in contrast to Indonesia and Thailand, have developed bilateral M2M roaming regulations and launched various initiatives which, among other objectives, promote the technological infrastructure of M2M projects," it added.

Detecon suggested the introduction of open mobile network codes (MNCs) as well so that users would be able to switch M2M providers. In this type of system, users or intermediaries would have their own MNC so that the expense and effort of replacing SIM cards in the M2M devices would become unnecessary. Users and providers in this case would simply buy M2M network services on the wholesale market.