Telefónica has signed a global partnership agreement with smart water meter supplier ARAD to commercialise a new solution for measuring water consumption based on NB-IoT and CAT-M1 technologies.
The deal will allow water supply companies to provide a platform that combines electronic water meters with accurate measurements thanks to metrological functionalities, IoT connectivity and a device management platform with advanced data analytics functionalities.
The solution collects and processes the data generated by the water meters and the advanced analytics provides, among other things, predictive maintenance and remote detection of incidents. It also facilitates predicting demand or customisation of supply to customers.
Sustainability
“This is a very important step in the digital transformation of utilities. Not only will it allow them to save costs and increase revenues, but also provide greater satisfaction for customers who are increasingly demanding the digitalisation of this type of services and a more sustainable management”, said Vicente Muñoz, Chief IoT Officer of Telefónica.
Telefónica says the solution will help water companies not only to better understand consumption patterns but also to manage the scarcity and quality of water resources more effectively, which is one of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDS).
“This agreement will provide both groups with technological cooperation and new business opportunities in the NB-IoT and Massive IoT sectors thanks to the advantages brought by new technologies, such as LPWA, which enable, among others, longer battery life or better signal penetration in complex environments,” said Gabriel Yankovitz, CEO of the ARAD Group.