RF Wireless boosts the fast rollout of smart electricity metering

Powercom has chosen Wirepas Mesh RF connectivity to link smart metres wirelessly and accelerate rollouts.
Massive IoT rollouts are becoming a reality in more and more countries. For example, in the Nordic countries, smart metre rollouts have been completed, and now second-generation rollouts are ongoing for the latest technologies that enable better performance at a lower cost. Developing countries have high ambitions to have fast rollouts of smart metres and have the biggest rollout opportunities for this decade. Connectivity plays a key role in enabling quick, large-scale rollouts and affordable business models.
While cellular has been used to connect people, the new 5G standard DECT-2020 NR+ and the first product of that standard, Wirepas Mesh, will connect the Internet of Things, like electricity smart meters. The opportunity is massive, as there are significantly more devices to be connected to than people.
Nordic countries like Finland, Sweden, and Norway are well known for their very advanced and reliable cellular networks. Still, even those networks have black spots to cover smart electricity meters, which can be located in challenging locations. When there are challenges to providing continuous cellular network coverage, the service level agreements (SLAs) set for smart metering cannot be met without a technology that builds the coverage into the devices themselves. Wirepas Mesh is a leading RF technology in the Nordic countries, operating at 870 MHz. The same wireless technology has been applied successfully in India at 865 MHz and, e.g., in Australia at 915 MHz. The new 5G mesh network available in 2023 enables non-licensed international 1900 MHz frequency to be used for smart metering, changing the game.