RE: Press article oh dear11 Nov 2024 09:41
Long Read
Smart metering
Ofcom designed the smart metering service based on a separate service provider for
• Area 1 Scotland and Northern England (Arqiva won the tender for this)
o Arqiva's smart meter radio network uses a private, dedicated 412 MHz frequency to provide reliable and secure data transmission to smart water meters:
o Arqiva's radio network operates at a low frequency that can penetrate walls more effectively than mobile networks.
o Arqiva's network uses a private, licensed spectrum, which eliminates interference from other devices and background radio noise.
o Arqiva's license allows smart meters to transmit at up to 10W ERP, which is 100 times more power than unlicensed spectrum.
o Arqiva's network uses two-way endpoint communication, allowing for remote software updates and configuration changes.
o Arqiva's network uses Long-Range Radio to move data quickly and reliably.
o Arqiva's network can achieve connectivity of over 99% in difficult to reach locations, with ranges up to 5 km in urban areas and up to 20 km in rural areas.
o Arqiva's smart meter radio network is part of a managed service that also includes communications networks, data management, and analytics.
• Area 2 Midlands and southern England (02 won the contract for this)
o This solution was based on 2G and 3G IoT connectivity
o The Mobile network has problems with Congestion, Signal penetration, The O2 IoT network is Distributed via Telefonica (Spain) via VPN it does not have geo redundancy and in effect is dependent upon DNS for failover!
o In high density areas such as the midlands or Southern England (Flats and apartments) This solution will not work.
o To Fix the problems with the O2 Network a proposed solution is proposed based on Lora WAN (Radio technology connected to a Lora Wan hub connected to an O2 Sim)
o Problem is that Lora WAN is designed to mostly send and very small receive data. (This is not how the Smart Metering network is supposed to Work) Guess why there are problems!
• DCC (Data Communications Company) (Capita won the contract for this)
o Left to pick up the pieces of the mess that Ofcom Caused.
I could write war and peace on this solution but have tried to simplify the complications.
I have left loads out with SMETS 1 and SMETS 2 Meters etc
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