Smart metering solutions provider Itron has partnered with Sierra Wireless to enable cellular connectivity in Itron’s latest line of smart gas meters.
The collaboration explains the growing interest from utilities in expanding smart metering from electrical grids to initiatives in gas metering as well, according to Sierra Wireless
Under this partnership, Sierra Wireless will provide AirPrime HL Series to power Itron’s point-to-point residential meters, which will begin shipping later this quarter to support smart metering initiatives across Europe, beginning with a deployment in Italy.
Both Itron and Sierra Wireless have previously announced their collaboration to provide smart electrical meters. This is the first partnership between the companies on gas meters.
Guillaume Garros, vice president of global solutions marketing for gas at Itron, said that Sierra Wireless gas metering solution helps meet the low-power consumption requirements of the new gas metering projects.
In addition, the Sierra Wireless modules enable them to leverage a single design for worldwide deployments and across multiple generations of our products as the technology evolves, Garros added.
The HL Series of modules uses the new CF3 form factor from Sierra Wireless, which is footprint-compatible across product lines and network technologies and will remain fully interchangeable with future versions of the modules, including those for LTE-M networks when they become available.
Rajani Baburajan