The role of mobile network operators (MNOs) as Internet of Things (IoT) gains broader appeal on the continent is not clear say ICT professionals engaged in a panel discussion during the two-day IoT Africa Summit in Johannesburg.

Raj Wanniappa, Deputy Executive Chairman of the Wi-Fi Forum of South Africa and fellow panelists agree that the test for MNOs goes beyond the task of keeping costs of wireless networks down, and that they need to take a leading role in the standardisation of IoT.

"At the moment there is a lot of tension and discourse between various stakeholders that are defining IoT standards. There are more than 15 different standards and each of them are being driven by specific interest groups. You've got the 5G led groups, the Wi-Fi led groups et cetera and because of that, there is no consensus at the moment and mobile operators need to help establish whether 5G will be the default mechanism through which all data will be aggregated, analysed and used for industrial purposes."

The quest for standardisation may never be achieved according to Wanniappa, who anticipates that a combination of networks is the most probable solution for differences in IoT standards.

Kevin Pillay, Head of Technology at Internet Solutions, said "We want multiple standards for this technology that can bring disruption and innovation. Network operators will need to find a way to aggregate all these different networks in order to find value for themselves."

Capacity to scale

Norman Moyo, Chief Executive Officer of IoT focused technology company Cumii International, says partnerships with MNOs in Africa is a good way to exploit the advantage the operators have in terms of B2C transactions.

"If you want to build something to scale you have to work with MNO's as we have done in Tanzania with Vodacom in order to reach their 15 to 20 million customers in the country. Most of the MNOs have extensive distribution channels and we need to tap into that if we want IoT to really grow on the continent. Otherwise it will become a niche product that never reaches the man on the street. They have the route to market and the capabilities and they must see this as an opportunity to improve their data revenues."