Vodafone Idea Limited (Vi) has partnered with the Centre for Development of Telematics (C-DOT) to offer a first-of-its-kind internet of things (loT) lab with the common vision of promoting standardisation and interoperability in the loT ecosystem. Since its formation in December 2022, Vi has tested more than 50 devices across industries like automobile, utility, banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), logistic and more. To promote proliferation of one machine-to-machine (M2M) standards which has been adopted as national standard for loT solution design by Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS), the lab tests and certifies compatibility with OneM2M standards as well. In a nutshell, this loT lab not only validates network performance as per device, but it also helps certify solution interoperability
This lab-as-a-service initiative from Vi Business, the enterprise arm of Vi, is equipped to test over 175 scenarios that include network and functional testing, field testing, application testing, compatibility testing, OneM2M standard testing and more. It can also test over 30 diverse use cases across industries, such as AMI, connected car, point of sale (POS), voice termination service (VTS) and more. The lab has the capability to test a wide spectrum of ecosystem components ranging from device, modules, SIMs, application, firmware, and more.
This lab acts as an loT ecosystem orchestrator and brings all stakeholders together to ensure seamless loT experience. The Vi C-DOT lot lab runs an exhaustive test plans on all devices and ensures no bug goes unresolved by collaborating with component designers. Until October 2023, five devices have been certified as network ready by this lab. Now, VIC-DOT IoT Lab is also testing 5G and narrowband-IoT (NB-IoT) devices.
Commenting on the partnership, Arvind Novatia, chief enterprise business officer, Vi, said, “Vi as the leader in the loT segment is committed to its adoption across Industries. We are pleased to share that Vi loT lab in partnership with C-DOT has enabled its partners with the right loT deployment especially bringing standardisation and interoperability. We are delighted to further strengthen this partnership by establishing centre of innovation which will bring synergies between startups and the M2M/IoT industry. This collaboration is a reflection of our ongoing efforts to improve the domestic loT ecosystem while contributing to the growth of the Indian economy.”
This certification is enabling loT Service providers by complying with global standards, thereby ensuring faster time-to-market and, in turn, quicker revenue realisation, as well as increasing the credibility of the loT service provider and their device by ensuring interoperability and standardisation as per oneM2M standards.
Additionally, the Vi C-DOT partnership is nurturing the loT ecosystem in India and empowering startups in the areas of loT/M2M by expanding the Vi IoT lab as the Centre of Innovation. This will act as an incubation centre, providing startups with technology and a business platform for broader and quicker market readiness. This centre will also provide a platform to make the solutions compliant with OneM2M standards.
Meanwhile, Dr Rajkumar Upadhyay, chief executive officer (CEO), C-DOT, said, “Vi C-DOT lot lab is a giant leap towards establishing a testing and certification framework for standards compliant loT devices and applications. I am confident that this collaborative initiative of C-DOT and Vi along with the Centre of Innovation (COI) for loT/M2M by C-DOT would be extremely beneficial for the Indian industry, especially start-ups in their endeavour to manufacture and deploy indigenous standards compliant devices and applications.”
