Numbering plan for M2M and IoT services — A study of United States, Japan, China and Taiwan

Triggered by the explosion of mobile subscriptions and emerging services such as machine-to-machine (M2M) and internet of things (IoT) in the coming 5th generation era, an appropriate numbering plan is an essential element to facilitate access of businesses and citizens to communications services. The field of M2M and IoT communications is rapidly expanding, and this will have impact on national numbering plans because machines need to be uniquely identified and addressed in order to communicate with them. The potential amount of M2M and IoT devices could be large. A mobile access E.164 numbering resource is the most viable solution for addressing M2M and IoT applications at least in the short and medium run. This paper examines and analyzes strategies for national numbering plans for M2M and IoT services.