Smart meters have been boosted by new deployments and contract wins by Telekom Austria and Telefónica.
The Austria-based operator has recently completed the first step of its smart meter roll out, installing 3,700 meters across the area of Ybbs and Danube.
The country’s government has ruled that 95 percent of all meters must be made smart by the end of 2019. Consumers are now able to check their energy consumption every 15 minutes.
Telekom Austria launched its smart meter project in 2014. It is also rolling out hardware across the Netz Burgenland Strom region.
Bernd Liebscher, Managing Director of Telekom Austria Group M2M, said: “Our contribution to a successful conversion covered all relevant work steps, including the supply of Smart Meter and data transmission. As a partner with a long term expertise, we are able to take over responsibility in a cost-efficient and future-proved way for a tailor-made and technology neutral planning and for business operations of Smart Meter.”
Meanwhile, Telefónica Business Solutions has been picked by Belgian electricity and natural gas distributor ORES for smart meter projects in Charleroi and the Société Wallonne des Eaux.
Telefónica will provide its smart M2M solution for five years, equipping 900 smart meters in 250 buildings to help improve energy consumption in municipal buildings.
There are 1,500 customers using the operator’s smart M2M solution, after it first launched in 2013. In January it partnered with a cattle company to track the movement of livestock.