IoT players will held license in Indonesia?

JAKARTA (IndoTelko) - The Ministry of Communications and Informatics (Kominfo) have a plan to give a license to the Internet of Things (IoT) players. It is to ensure the business certainty for them.

"Of course any player needs a license, especially if it is utilizing natural resources and serving the public. This is part of the government's public protection," said Director General of Resources and Equipment for Post and Information Technology (SDPPI) of the Ministry of Communication and Informatics, Ismail.

He said the government would not hastily determine what kind of licenses to be given to the IoT players. The government has to look at their business models first, and also other technical issues.

"The point is we don't want something in the past happened again. We used to let them do everything but when it already massive and used by the public, then it will be difficult to regulate, "he said.

Ismail also said there are three issues related to IoT that must be settled quickly by the government. First is related to the use of frequency, second is standardization, and last is Level of Local Content (TKDN).

For frequencies divided into two, Unlicensed and Licensed, which divided again into two, Narrowband IoT (NBIoT) and IoT broadband (BIoT).

"If regarding unlicensed frequency, then the NBIoT can be used. An Operator who chooses for licensed frequency can also use NBIoT because we have neutralized it. But for BIoT, it has to wait for 5G, "he said.

As for the standardization, it will require import permissions and license for device interoperability.

"And regarding TKDN, it must be discussed first with the Ministry of Industry. It does need a cooperation between government institutions, "he said.

Member of the Committee of the Indonesian Telecommunication Regulatory Body (BRTI) Imam Nashirudin, proposed the most eligible license for IoT players. It is Data Communication System (DCS/Siskomdat).

"We have network and service provider licenses. The provider is public, the data is private. So most probably it's Siskomdat, but we must first review what is best. There is a suggestion that we using unlicensed frequencies but based on Siskomdat operations," Imam suggested.

Imam added that licensing means that IoT players must meet the quality of service standards.

"If they granted the license, they must meet the quality of services that exist in the license. The point is we must first set the rules for resources and players," he said.

Head of Wireless Marketing and Solutions ZTE Indonesia, Andyan Pradipto, suggests our priority on the IoT is to develop the market and industry before crammed with lots of rules, especially TKDN issues.

"This is so that global vendors can come in and help Indonesia catch up on IoT," he said.

SVP Media & Digital Business of Telkom, Joddy Hernady, added that the regulation in IOT is needed because there are data security issues in this business.

"If IoT develops, there will be a lot of traffic data. Data security is important, cannot be played by unauthorized parties, "he said.

Regarding the registration of the devices, same as SIM card registration, Imam from BRTI proposed, IoT device registration can be done by corporate account manager (CAM) by one operator because usually, SIM cards bought by device provider.

As an information, IoT market is predicted to reach Rp444 trillion with more than 400 million sensors installed in Indonesia by 2022. IoT's market share consists of content and applications of Rp192.1 trillion, followed by a platform of Rp156.8 trillion, IoT of Rp56 trillion, network and gateway of Rp39.1 trillion.(es)