Smart Metering Technology Sets the Scene for Sustainability

Smart metering technology presents a variety of challenges for different types of use cases. Water meters, for example, need to have a long lifespan of meters – some are deployed for two decades. Therefore power consumption for smart water metering solutions is[NG(CA1]  an issue that needs to be addressed by ensuring battery life is maximized and power consumption is minimized.

Gas meters are less challenged by power concerns because they are typically replaced every ten years while electricity meters are powered from the supply they meter. A common challenge for water, gas and electricity meters is that they can be  hard to reach places such as basements so both installation costs and the meter’s ability to connect to networks need to be considered carefully.

Several connectivity technologies exist to support smart meters. Wireless connectivity options have grown considerably in popularity in the past years and will account for between 55–65% of annual shipment volumes in the period 2022-2028. These include cellular technologies, such as 4G LTE. With 2G and 3G networks retiring, LTE provides an effective option for smart meters, especially with lower power variants such as LTE Cat M. Alternatives, such as narrowband-IoT are emerging, although capacity is still being built out in many countries. There is little need for 5G in smart metering because applications don’t need the capacity it offers and the cost of 5G is therefore challenging to justify.

Other low-power wide-area options are available outside of the cellular stack. A disadvantage of these is that coverage is non-ubiquitous so meters may need to support multiple technologies, adding upfront cost.

Telenor Managed IoT Connectivity services provide you access to the best quality cellular connection based on availability and the needs of your use case. Telenor IoT’s Connectivity Management Platform simplifies large-scale IoT deployments worldwide by providing an unmatched IoT Portal, enabling effortless implementation, management, and scalability from a single, unified platform.