AT&T, Elster work together on smart grid

AT&T and Elster Smart Grid Integration delivers AMI connectivity via cellular IoT, enabling utilities with open-standards networking, two-way communications, real-time metering, M2M data, and secure, scalable distribution area networks to boost efficiency and reliability.

AT&T and Elster have signed a new agreement that will enable comprehensive end-to-end wireless smart grid solutions for utilities.

The combined offering enables utilities to integrate distribution area networking from AT&T’s high-speed, cellular data network with Elster’s EnergyAxis advanced metering infrastructure AMI solution, such as the Cleveland Utilities project now underway.

“Momentum within smart grid has been picking up at a rapid pace for us,” said Chris Hill, Vice President, Advanced Enterprise Mobility Solutions, AT&T Business Solutions. “With this agreement with Elster, we are excited about the potential to expand our Smart Grid offerings, similar to the Verizon smart grid partnership in the market, beyond North America.”

Utilities will now have access to an open and multi-technology smart grid platform that optimizes efficiency and reliability, while reducing the operational costs of having to manage proprietary networks. Based on open-standards and high security protocols, critical information on energy consumption and usage from the end-user is collected and managed in real time by Elster’s EnergyAxis-enabled smart meters and two-way, standards-based communications network, as seen in the KCBPU smart grid program underway. This information is then aggregated and transported securely over AT&T’s high-speed networks.

“Elster has strong history of working with utilities to create operational efficiencies and one of the main reasons for this success is our ability to seamlessly integrate our EnergyAxis solution into an existing IT infrastructure or geography,” said Mark Munday, CEO of Elster Solutions. “With this new agreement with AT&T, Elster is expanding the industry’s most comprehensive suite of Smart Grid solutions, building on its Tropos Networks reseller agreement to extend coverage, to meet the specific needs of our customers.”

In a recent Current Analysis report, “Machine to Machine Services Market: Competition Heats Up,” AT&T’s strength in M2M implementation strategy and mobility services organization, even as initiatives like Echelon and T-Mobile target smart grid cost reductions, was highlighted.

Analyst Kathryn Weldon wrote that AT&T “stands out as having one of the most comprehensive M2M services portfolio, with a strategy likely to succeed in the market.”

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