BASKING RIDGE, N.J.,
July 29, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon
today announced Grid Wide Utility Solutions, a new Internet of
Things (IoT) platform service offering utility companies an easy
on-ramp to grid modernization. Now available in the U.S., Grid Wide
offers electric utility companies an integrated solution for smart
metering, demand response, meter data management and distribution
monitoring and control.
With 147 million electric meters in the U.S. today, Verizon's
Grid Wide aims to transform the delivery and consumption of energy
nationwide for investor-owned, cooperative and municipal utilities
and their customers. Designed to maximize the benefits of smart
meters, the solution comes equipped with a wide range of
cloud-based applications intended to help utility companies drive
incremental revenue, reduce operating costs, increase efficiency
and improve customer experience.
Why Grid Modernization Matters
"Historically, utility companies have constructed costly
communications networks and installed premise-based servers
designed to last for at least a decade," said Jay Olearain, director of business development
for energy & utilities, IoT Connected Solutions at Verizon.
"The industry has since realized that the coverage, reliability and
security of public wireless networks have evolved well beyond
anything that they can construct on their own efficiently and with
scale."
According to industry estimates, at least 60 percent of utility
companies only become aware of outages as a result of customer
notifications.
Enter Smart Energy As-A-Service
"What is really cool about our smart grid technology – and very
disruptive – is that we have pre-built Grid Wide as an as-a-service
model, which removes the complexities, time and cost for utilities
with having to build their own solution. As a result, utilities
don't have to swap out their entire meter population, they can
start to solve the problem areas right now on a per-month,
per-meter cost basis," Olearain added.
How Grid Wide Works
By delivering smart energy as-a-service, Grid Wide offers more
to utility companies than simply the ability to read their smart
meters remotely. It turns the utility-owned meters into a
power-quality sensor to help utility companies understand the
quality of the electricity they are delivering to their
customers.
With Grid Wide, the utility's smart meter communicates its meter
data over Verizon's wireless network, through Verizon's private
network and then to Verizon's cloud environment.
The solution's pre-configured data and analytics dashboards
provide timely information regarding outages and abnormal usage
patterns while also helping utilities drive revenue.
The Road Ahead
"This is only a starting point. Our roadmap also includes
certifying gas and water meter manufacturers in the coming months,"
added Olearain.
Verizon has more than a dozen years of experience in developing
and deploying IoT connected solutions, and today manages millions
of connected devices. Verizon's revenue from the IoT and telematics
totaled approximately $165 million in
second-quarter 2015 and $320 million
year to date.
Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ), headquartered in
New York, is a global leader in
delivering the promise of the digital world. Verizon Wireless
operates America's most reliable wireless network, with 109.5
million retail connections nationwide. Verizon also provides
converged communications, information and entertainment services
over America's most advanced fiber-optic network, and delivers
integrated business solutions to customers worldwide. A Fortune 15
company with more than $127 billion
in 2014 revenues, Verizon employs a diverse workforce of 178,500.
For more information, visit www.verizon.com/news/.
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SOURCE Verizon