White Paper: AMI And Beyond: How Wireless Broadband Enables The Smart Grid Today And Tomorrow

Most utilities are beginning their journey with the implementation of an AMI (Advanced Metering Infrastructure) system. More and more of these utilities are also realizing that to truly harness the power of the Smart Grid, they must also have a separate wireless broadband infrastructure capable of delivering 24/7 high-speed communication to enable a variety of additional Smart Grid benefits.

These include more cost-effective backhaul of AMI data, delivery of sophisticated energy management/control programs and real-time connectivity within the utility to help improve service delivery, outage management and overall productivity. In essence, the deployment of a wireless broadband communications network for Smart Grid applications enables the utility to become a truly "Connected Utility."

Many utilities around the world are also discovering that partnering with a wireless innovator such as Motorola to implement a private wireless broadband communications network for their AMI systems makes both operational and economic sense… not just for today, but also for the future.

AMI initiatives are moving forward on a global basis and at great speeds despite their high cost. In the United States alone, more than 140 million electro-mechanical meters will be converted to smart meters. Utilities are investing millions — even billions — of dollars in AMI systems, including 3 SOLUTION BRIEF - AMI and Beyond: How Wireless Broadband Enables the Smart Grid Today and Tomorrow the costs of the smart meters themselves, meter installation and collection points. Utilities have invested a lot of time in evaluating various AMI vendors in numerous small-scale pilots usually consisting of one or two collection points.