M2M Reliance on Mobile Networks Raises Issues for Public Numbering Systems, Regulators Say

Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications will rely heavily on mobile networks, posing challenges to public numbering systems, said officials from the Conference of European Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) in recent interviews. While work is ongoing on future use of IPv6 addresses for the Internet of Things, the need for phone numbers won't end for many years, said Freddie McBride, responsible for numbering and networks at CEPT's European Communications Office (ECO). M2M numbering and addressing is one of several major focuses for the next five years, said the CEPT Electronic Communications Committee (ECC) in a Nov. 28 strategic plan. Many issues will need regulatory action, McBride said.

Many devices will use mobile networks because they're robust and offer long-range communications, said ECO Director Mark Thomas. He cited burglar alarms with chips that call security companies over mobile networks, or "e-call" for cars involved in collisions. Any M2M application that requires mobility can use ITU recommendation E.212, which defines international mobile subscriber identity (IMSI) numbers, and recommendation E.164, which deals with assigned country calling codes, said McBride. Phone numbering systems have huge capacity, he said.

But using public numbering systems for M2M communications raises several key issues, said Thomas. The most "profound" challenge is that of embedded subscriber identification module cards, he said. Putting a SIM into a device as opposed to a mobile phone means it will likely stay put for a long time, locking the device into the network that provided the card, he said. Embedded SIMs would have to be programmed remotely, but that will undermine the mobile industry's business model and cause "massive disruption" to the mobile economy, he said. There are also valid security concerns about vulnerabilities being introduced into remote programs, said McBride.

The GSM Association is pushing for a standard to let IMSI numbers be reprogrammed remotely. The technology for embedded SIMs allows several functions that aren't possible with traditional SIM cards, said GSMA Executive Director Gary Waite. For example, it would be possible to remotely load onto an embedded SIM card a local, in-country subscription whenever an M2M device is first switched on or changes its country of operation, he said. This is particularly important for nations where permanent roaming isn't permitted, he said. When a contract ends, the original equipment manufacturer can change operators without having to physically access the devices and change SIMs, he said.

As to whether embedded SIMs will hurt mobile operators' business, Waite said the technology allows for subscriptions to be changed frequently, but "in practice it won't work that way." OEMs will have contracts with operators that are likely to set minimum time periods before changes can be made, he said. GSMA embedded-SIM technology "is a positive step for the industry," Waite said. There's clearly demand for the technology in M2M, he said; nearly all major carmakers now specify a requirement for it in their plans. GSMA is "now actively driving" the adoption of the technology in the global M2M market, he said.

Another challenge is getting phone numbers to work across borders, which was to be addressed at a Jan. 27 Brussels CEPT workshop on extraterritorial use of E.164 numbers, said McBride. The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development believes per-country numbering is no longer viable because communication isn't based on borders anymore, he said. But an April 2013 CEPT ECC report recommended against using E.164 number extraterritorially because of negative effects such as uncertainty about which country's laws apply and higher costs for public service answering point operators who will have to identify non-national numbers.

Another issue is the sheer amount of phone numbers needed, said Thomas. Every e-call device in cars will have a SIM card and will essentially be an M2M application, said McBride. With around 230 million vehicles in Europe, tens of millions of SIMs will be needed every year when the e-call system rolls out, he said. It's not clear whether each car will have its own phone number, because the collateral costs of creating new numbers is high, and numbering plan managers try to avoid having to make emergency numbering changes, he said. If, for example, every BMW made in Germany has a German IMSI and mobile number, that eventually will put pressure on the country's numbering plan, he said.