Today there was a news spread by MegaFon, VimpelCom and Tele2 that at least 1 million smart electricity meters used in housing and communal services may be outlawed.
As it turned out, the problem is that the foreign transmission standard used in electricity metering devices data was not included in the list of acceptable data approved at the end of December, in contrast to the less common domestic analogue. The ministry promises to leave the list purely recommendatory, non-binding.
The popular Internet of Things data transmission standard NB-IoT (Narrowband Internet of Things) was not included in the list of acceptable for use in electricity metering systems and devices, follows from the letter of MTS, MegaFon, VimpelCom and Tele2 to the deputy head of the Ministry of Digital Industry Oleg Ivanov dated 22 January. The list was approved by the order of the Ministry of Digital Industry on December 30, 2020, the only acceptable data transfer protocol in electricity metering systems was recognized as domestic NB-Fi.
The NB-IoT standard is used to connect electrical appliances equipped with a traditional or embedded virtual (eSIM) SIM card. It differs from GSM, 3G and 4G standards by lower power consumption, which allows devices to work up to ten years without changing the battery. Therefore, such a network is optimal for devices transmitting small amounts of information from a certain frequency: electricity meters, pipeline monitoring sensors, opening hatches, systems Smart city. Household appliances are usually connected to the network via Wi-Fi.
All major operators are already providing services based on the NB-IoT standard. Thus, VimpelCom has NB-IoT networks in the Central and Ural Federal Districts. They believe that due to the actions of the Ministry of Digital Affairs, about 1 million electricity metering devices may be outlawed in Central Russia alone, and their replacement will lead to an increase in electricity prices.
The list includes the standards recommended by the Ministry of Energy and the Federal Security Service and adopted by Rosstandart, the Ministry explained.
Although the operators are confident that the list is mandatory, the Ministry of Digital Affairs says that it will be advisory in nature.
The NB-Fi standard is based on Russian technology developed by Vaviot and was approved by Rosstandart in 2019 as the first domestic Internet of Things protocol. Telecom operators in their letter to the Ministry of Digital Science claim that it is less secure than foreign counterparts, because it operates in unlicensed frequencies. ER-Telecom adds that the NB-IoT protocol was approved by Rosstandart in September 2020, and by approval is being prepared for the second most popular standard in the world after him - LoRaWAN, which also did not get into list of the Ministry of Digital Science.
According to operators, the situation with the list limits competition in the market.
The press service of the Federal Antimonopoly Service agrees that the issue requires study, the department is ready to "take part in its consideration." The main thing, says Andrey Kolesnikov, director of the Internet of Things Association, is that they have access to the market manufacturers of domestic equipment, regardless of the standard, then there are no violations in the field of competition will be.
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