MNOs will have to charge for signalling for some M2M applications

A very brief post this, in fact more of a musing. It has struck me over the last few weeks that MNOs will have to charge for signalling when it comes to M2M. I remember many years ago when I needed to call my parents to come and pick me up from somewhere we'd arrange that I'd dial the phone, let it ring three times and then put it down. They'd know what that meant, I'd get collected. It didn't cost anything. If I actually needed to speak with them, I'd just let it ring longer.

With some M2M applications it's potentially the same. Routine reporting can be done through signalling. Only exceptions need the actual transfer of packets of data. Simply charging for traffic does not reflect the network 'load'. In fact in some instances, e.g. an alarm, it may get to the point where a service provider can build an application that simply works on signalling. Anything where you're simply engaging in switching a device on/off or polling the network or doing binary alerts (e.g. something has happened to me), can be done just with signalling.

MNOs need to commercialise signalling. There is an awareness about this and I wait with interest to see who does something about it first.

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