Siemens’ Communications Group and the Norwegian service provider Telenor Cinclus have signed a multi-million Euro contract for the delivery of 680,000 wireless modules.
The modules will be part of a solution that will enable energy companies to read their electric meters automatically. The order is one of the largest ever awarded in the area of machine-to-machine communications.
It will become law in Sweden beginning June 2009 to make it possible to read electric meters once a month. The country’s government wants this regulation to speed up the pace of deregulation in the Swedish energy market, increase competition among energy providers and make it easier for consumers to switch to cheaper providers. The transmission of the data from the meters to Telenor Cinclus will be handled by 680,000 TC65 and MC55 modules from Siemens.
“This contract with Telenor Cinclus is a breakthrough in the area of remote wireless meter reading,” said Norbert Muhrer, President of Wireless Modules at Siemens Communications. “We expect very fast growth in the global market for automated remote meter reading. In Sweden alone, about five million meters will have to be upgraded by 2009, and other Scandinavian countries are following Sweden’s lead.”
The solution supported by Siemens will work over existing mobile networks, so it will involve no additional costs for new infrastructure.
“Telenor Cinclus offers solutions that transmit the current reading wirelessly to the energy provider,” said Ivar Grothe, Managing Director of Telenor Cinclus. “Wireless meter reading will create a whole new business model for mobile communications providers, one with a very large market potential.”
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