On 7 February 2017, the Body of European Regulators for Electronic Communications (BEREC) presented the results of its workshop "Enabling the Internet of Things", which took place on 1 February in Brussels, Belgium.
At this workshop, BEREC promoted discussion on the Internet of Things (IoT), including regulatory implications and solutions to ensure sustainable and large-scale development of the IoT, offering significant benefits to citizens and consumers.
Discussions provided a comprehensive overview of various IoT business models, opportunities and practical examples. The IoT may bring benefits to individuals, businesses and society as a whole. For example, smart metres, cars, houses and utility networks may be improved to make cities more energy efficient and cut pollution. The innovation potential in the electronic communications sector lies not only in the area of mobile services, but also in new types of solutions and technologies which help make the market more competitive and which benefit consumers. Discussions also focused on issues of privacy and consumer protection.
This workshop was held as a complement to BEREC’s report "Enabling the Internet of Things," published in February 2016. This report examined telecommunications rules and their application and adaptation to machine-to-machine communications (M2M), given that these rules were primarily created for voice telephony. In light of the European Commission's review of the telecommunications framework, BEREC considers that, in general, there is no need for special treatment of IoT services and/or M2M communications, except in terms of roaming, switching and number portability.
A video of this event will soon be released on BEREC’s YouTube channel.
Further information:
- BEREC Press Release: «Regulators can play a key role in making Europe a leader in Tech again» says BEREC Chair Sebastien Soriano about the Internet of Things at the BEREC Workshop http://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/download/0/6700-regulators-can-play-a-key-role-in-making_0.pdf
- BEREC Workshop: Preparing the revolution for the Internet of Things http://www.berec.europa.eu/eng/news_and_publications/whats_new/4225-berec-workshop-preparing-the-revolution-for-the-internet-of-things
- BEREC Report on Enabling the Internet of Things - 12 February 2016 http://berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/reports/5755-berec-report-on-enabling-the-internet-of-things
- BEREC presentation at the workshop ''Enabling the Internet of Things'' http://www.berec.europa.eu/eng/document_register/subject_matter/berec/others/6702-berec-presentation-at-the-workshop-enabling-the-internet-of-things
- Berec You Tube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/bereceuropaeu/feed
