Can grapes surf the Internet?

Except for a few rotten tomatoes, we don’t generally think of fruit as having access to the Internet. But today, farmers are harnessing the power of the Internet of Things (or “IoT”) to bring their crops online, conserving resources and increasing yields in the process. At Hahn Family Wines in California’s Monterey County, wine-growers are using data from small sensors in the fields to monitor the need for watering, fertilizer or other interventions. Real-time data is uploaded wirelessly and transmitted to Verizon’s ThingSpace dashboard, where growers can analyze conditions and target watering with precision. This kind of connectivity is becoming common, as more and more devices are connected to the internet. Connectivity that used to be limited to computers and mobile devices is now finding its way into everything, from appliances to automobiles to oil rigs. Gartner, a Connecticut-based technology consulting firm, estimates that by 2020 there will be over 26 billion IoT devices, and some say the number could be much higher. And that’s a good thing. IoT creates the potential to create more sustainable agriculture and cleaner cities.

It can help deliver higher quality healthcare, bring transformative efficiencies and safety improvements to transportation, conserve water, boost productivity and, in short, improve the way people live, work and play. To achieve that potential, we’ll need a robust and secure underlying communications network to serve as a foundation. That network will need both sufficient spectrum to power this new wave of connected innovation and policies that will promote investment in the necessary supporting infrastructure. And we’ll need to work together to create a consistent policy framework that accelerates, rather than slows down, the growth of IoT