ABB Teams with Itron/UTS on AMR

ABB Electricity Metering announced yesterday that the Itron/UTS (Utility Translation Systems) multi-vendor data collection system (MV-90) will support ABB's ALPHA STARS communications interface at the end of this month. Utility Translation Systems, a wholly owned subsidiary of Itron Inc., is a leading provider of software systems for the acquisition and analysis of electric and gas usage data from large commercial and industrial meters. UTS systems serve utilities throughout the United States and 24 countries throughout the world. Customers using MV-90 will be able to read ABB's ALPHA Plus meters over American Mobile Satellite Corporation's ARDIS network.

ABB and Itron have a long history of working together to provide customers with cost-effective integrated solutions. Many of Itron's data acquisition systems are integrated with ABB meters. "This offering is in keeping with ABB's philosophy to provide a variety of customer focused solutions at the lowest cost," said Reckleff. "As a technology leader, ABB will continue to partner with companies such as Itron/UTS and American Mobile Satellite to provide a complete integrated Automatic Meter Reading solution to its customers."

ABB's ALPHA STARS communications interface and American Mobile's ARDIS network expand the public network capability for Automatic Meter Reading. The largest nationwide public data network in the U.S., ARDIS offers national coverage, free of roaming charges, through a dedicated two-way network. "With cost-effective data transmission, quick installation and no capital expenditures for infrastructure, ABB's customers realize a lower total cost-of-ownership," explained Dr. John Reckleff, executive vice president and general manager of ABB Electricity Metering.

In developing the MV-90/ARDIS/ALPHA STARS interface, Itron/UTS has continued its longstanding tradition of supporting communication protocols for many commercial and industrial meters in the U.S. and other countries. "The development of the ALPHA STARS TIM (Translation Interface Module), together with the MV-COMM multi-tasking communications processor, provides MV-90 users even more flexibility in developing cost-effective data collection strategies for their commercial and industrial customers," said Dennis Shepherd, president of UTS. "The MV-90/MV-COMM system currently supports a variety of communication technologies, including TCP/IP, telephone, CDPD, ARDIS and our own C&I Network system," Shepherd explained. "By working closely with ABB on development of the ALPHA STARS interface TIM, Itron/UTS again demonstrates our commitment to optimize the MV-90 system in support of advanced communication and metering technologies to ensure our customers retain the flexibility of choice in meeting their data collection needs."

Edited by Stephen Heiser