Pervasive wireless access requires heavy capital investment which relies on mass market mobile for deployments to occur broadly and rapidly. M2M on 3G-4G networks will largely occur as a piggy-back to mobile and BB data service, not as a primary rationale for deployments. Although M2M may evolve into such a prolific range of applications that it will become compelling in its own right, it has fundamental problems of amassing the capital, spectrum access and applications momentum to become viable on its own. Simply put, without the vitality of mobile broadband markets, M2M is a lifeless fantasy. Nobody in the electric utilities, industrial, consumer industries has yet to explain how they can put the cart before the horse in building of deployments needed to carry out the vision.

therefore, first things first: the first requirements for pervasive multiple service wireless environments was to fashion a framework of technologies that can be sued across a wide array of applications. This had to encompass both very low cost embedded applications such as M2M power meters and other low duty-cycle and low service charge monitoring apps. And it also was understood that it needed to cover very high quality of service, high bandwidth service requirements including personal mobile broadband and cloud ICT.

That understanding of requirements has been guided by the promising opportunity for business and government activity that could be enabled.

M2M is one of the many applications that ride on top, extend, and help fuel the growth of business and government enterprise that are, in most cases, interdependent. The largest and highest priority segment is mobile connectivity, thus getting the majority of analysts focus.

-Robert

I dont think flat rate plans are good for the industry so I am not going to advocate that. What I would say is intruduction of services like kindle where cost of accessing internet of data is included in the price of the book. That wont put pressure on the operators and help them monetize their 3g infrastructure as well..

I am sure there are lots more. just need to think. I think the cracker would be an application that would be valuable in villages and individual farmers need to buy smartphones to access that application but operators can have 3g booths (like erstwhile PCOs) where villagers can come and use the application as and when needed and these services could be very competitively priced. I know it wont make much sense for operators to create 3g infrastructure in villages initially but I still feel these places in India have tremendous potential and will create lots of opportunities for operators in the long term.

1. Higher investment in educating the users and retailers on the various data services
2. More flat rate data plans
3. Ensure seamless experience. Tie up with BSNL/other operators of roaming if reqd.