Telcos need to review their approach to IoT if they are to avoid becoming commoditised connectivity providers. RFID can help them learn what is important in IoT. It’s not just a “bar code on steroids” or a way to speed up toll roads, and we must never allow our vision to shrink to that scale. Kevin Ashton about RFID The term Internet of Things was coined by Kevin Ashton in 1999, and was about the widespread use of RFID technology with the internet. It predates the advent of smart phones, smart devices or even smart cities. Telco currently views “things” in the same way they see people and their phones. The distinction between people and things originally drove Kevin Ashton to propose the Internet of Things. if IoT is to be anything more than another commoditised connectivity service for CSPs, this thinking needs to change. RFID can point the way to the true IoT need Telco can learn a lot about the true needs (and opportunities) of mass IoT by looking at RFID devices, with their very different characteristics from people with phones. RFID devices can be regarded as the ultimate in limited communication and compute devices; they only send data […]