First-in-market solution provides flexible, future-ready cellular communication option for both residential and commercial meters.
Landis+Gyr has released an omni-carrier cellular meter and services solution to simplify installation and operation of cellular communications for utility IoT applications.
A first of its kind for North America, Landis+Gyr’s LTE-M cellular meter is omni-carrier capable, with a single meter model that is capable of supporting a variety of available cellular carriers. The meter can automatically provision the optimal carrier network on installation and provides increased resilience with automatic failover to alternate networks following loss of service. This level of flexibility, which has not been available in grid communications until now, enables utilities to avoid costly carrier lock-in.
Part of Landis+Gyr’s Gridstream® Connect platform for utility IoT, the omni-carrier solution delivers improved network coverage, more efficient installation, and a consolidated head-end system for managing RF mesh and cellular networks in one place. The solution includes services such as hosted data plans that eliminate billing of non-deployed meters and overage charges; metering device management for security and feature advancement; and legacy cellular meter data collection systems. The omni-carrier solution is offered in both residential and commercial Landis+Gyr meters.
“Landis+Gyr is the leader in flexible network options for smart grid and IoT applications, and LTE-M networks are a growing part of this solution,” said Tim Weidenbach, Senior Vice President and Chief Product Officer at Landis+Gyr.
“With our omni-carrier solution, utilities have reliable cellular network access that is easy to manage and deploy.”
The omni-carrier solution is designed to future-proof cellular communications for utilities, with capabilities to connect to both public and private mobile carriers and transition seamlessly to 5G networks as available, mitigating the risk of cellular technology obsolescence. The meter’s wireless modem supports all carrier bands and can operate in CAT-M now or NB-IoT frequencies in the future. SIM cards are factory installed and configured, further simplifying deployment.
Landis+Gyr’s omni-carrier meters are now available for order and will begin shipping to customers in the second quarter of 2020.
