IoT Standard Competition
As the Internet of Things (IoT) is considered as the next-generation growth business, global information and communications technology (ICT) companies are actively concluding an alliance one another to create IoT communication standards.
Since the IoT is a communication service by connecting all things with mobile communication networks, the creation of communication standards are the first-priority project to activate the IoT industry. However, major companies have created their own communication technologies to expand their presence in the market until now. Recently, they are seeking to create global standards by building an alliance.
According to major foreign media reports and industry sources on Feb. 29, Samsung Electronics, MS, Cisco, General Electric, Intel and Qualcomm have deicded to form a consortium called “The Open Connectivity Foundation (OCF)” in a bid to jointly develop the IoT communication standards. The companies plan to focus on the development of IoT solutions and related actuators and unification of the standards.
Previously, the OCF is an integrated form of the Open Interconnect Consortium (OIC) established by Samsung Electronics, Dell and Intel. The OCF will include software and related platform firms in the consortium in the future.
At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 held in Barcelona, Spain, on Feb. 23 (local time), SK Telcom, Nokia and Intel formed “the fifth-generation (5G) standardization alliance”, led by Facebook. In regard to the IoT industry, SK Telecom president Jang Dong-hyun said, “Related technologies have been so advanced and the only thing left is that some firms start the project. It remains to be seen who and when will do it but a single company will face crisis when entering the global market without any supports.”
Global firms are joining forces to improve compatibility between IoT devices since there are many services and products, which use the IoT, in the whole industry now.
According to a report conducted by Gartner, the IoT market will be worth US$1.7 trillion (2102.05 trillion won) in 2020. Moreover, the amount of IoT related devices will be increased to 25 billion in 2020 from 5 billion last year, having an influence on the ecosystem in each industry.
In particular, all industries will be integrated and developed by connecting with mobile systems in the IoT era so cooperation between companies are crucial.