Ericsson joins EnergyAustralia in LTE tryst

BANGALORE, INDIA: LTE is set to be an integral part of smart grid rollout with a new agreement between Ericsson and EnergyAustralia, an Australian based energy provider.

Ericsson will design and integrate a multivendor wireless access network that will enable two-way communications between electrical control devices, back-end systems and households. The network will be rolled out across 150 sites in New South Wales, said a press release.

This will be part of Australia's leading smart grid rollout and will transform EnergyAustralia's electricity network into a smarter, greener and more efficient network. The telecommunications network will transmit data between 12,000 smart monitoring devices being installed on the electricity distribution network, up to 3,000 mobile field computers, and 200 zone substations.

EnergyAustralia will conduct trials of an LTE platform commencing in 2011, with the intent to migrate to a full LTE network.

"Ericsson is delighted to partner with EnergyAustralia on this extremely important project. Machine-to-machine (M2M) communications is transforming the utility sector and will enable smart grids to deliver instant information, giving households greater control over their energy usage, costs and carbon emissions, as well as supporting more renewable energy," said Sam Saba, CEO, Ericsson Australia/NZ.

He added that as a global wireless leader with multivendor systems integration experience, Ericsson is well placed to partner with utilities as they transform their electricity distribution networks with current solutions and future wireless broadband technologies that will deliver even faster speeds and greater capacity.

Under the agreement, Ericsson will provide equipment, software and services, and will leverage the Melbourne-based Ericsson Global LTE Competence Centre, and Ericsson's deep local expertise in network design, planning and integration.

"We envision a world of 50 billion connected devices by 2020, and smart grids and smart meters will be at the heart of the evolution of M2M communications," said Saba.

EnergyAustralia was recently chosen by the Australian Government to lead the Smart Grid, Smart City demonstration project to test Australia’s first fully integrated, commercial-scale smart grid.

Ericsson is expanding its business in the utilities sector to meet the growing demand for telecommunications services and technology. At Acea, Italy's leading water provider and second largest electricity supplier, Ericsson provides advanced metering management for its electricity network.

The solution includes managed services, revenue protection, and systems integration. Endesa, Spain's largest electricity utility, uses Ericsson to operate its entire corporate telecommunications network through an extensive managed services agreement.

Ericsson has been driving open standards and has had the highest impact on the released LTE specifications. Ericsson expects to hold 25 per cent of all essential patents for LTE, making it the largest patent holder in the industry, the release added.