Connecting to the wireless network

There has recently been significant progress in wireless M2M. The number of machines connecting to wireless networks in North America alone is estimated to reach 66 million by 2011. Power & Energy asked John J. Andre of Numerex what is driving this growth, and what effects it will have on the industry.

PE. Numerex is one of the top M2M providers. From your interaction with clients, what do you think are some of the more critical issues facing the power and energy industry?
JA. The number one issue facing the power and energy industry relative to M2M is showing ROI. That’s why we’re seeing utility companies focused on doing more at the operational level. They are deploying M2M to address increases in compliance requirements, to deal with demand for real-time energy management and load shedding, to address the need for redundancy, as well as a desire to improve customer service.

PE. Numerex claims to offer the broadest choice of secure M2M network services and solutions. What can you tell us about these solutions and how they impact the electric utility industry?
JA. We’ve built out one of the industry’s most reliable, scalable and secure wireless networks for M2M. The vast coverage and ultra-low latency of our industrial-grade SMSXpress network guarantees delivery status, giving customers a highly cost effective network to continually monitor or monitor by exception network assets. And as the only North American network to earn the coveted ISO 27001:2005 certification, Numerex gives IT managers in the utility industry unprecedented levels of security and control they need.

PE. What are both the challenges and the advantages that are raised for M2M solutions within the power and energy industry? How are they tackled and utilized?
JA. Geography, security and cost are some of the biggest challenges in adopting M2M technology across the utility industry. Wireless networks are becoming more ubiquitous, so geography is becoming less of a factor. The industry is also concerned with putting all of these wireless nodes out there on their IT infrastructure. They view each wireless M2M device as a new node on their network for hackers to exploit. That’s the reason the year-long process we went through to achieve ISO 27001:2005 certification is so vital.

PE. There has recently been significant progress in wireless M2M. Advances in short-range networking, mobile networks and user devices are the key technologies increasing the level of communications systems. How are these processes being adopted and what effect is it having on the industry?
JA. The number of machines connecting to wireless networks in North America alone is estimated to reach 66 million by 2011. One of the things driving this growth is the maturity and ubiquity of connectivity options. Network speeds, data costs and network coverage have all enhanced significantly. Additionally, device costs have fallen by two-thirds in the last couple of years. The intersection of these factors helps to explain the attractiveness and high growth of M2M in the utility industry. Counter to that are the rising costs of labor and energy, which make the efficiency of wireless solutions that much more imperative.

PE. What developments do you expect to see in the market over the coming years? What do you cite as the major trends in the industry, what challenges and opportunities do these raise?
JA. The biggest development we’ll see is at the network level. For 30 years, utilities have controlled assets using one-way paging systems. And they’ve done this on shared, consumer grade networks, which operate differently than industrial strength networks like the one Numerex has built, which understand the nuances of machine integrity and behavior.

Also, many utilities have utilized private two-way radio systems for SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition). Unfortunately, these private networks do not offer the speed, coverage or carrier grade redundancy and reliability of a cellular network. The adoption of M2M has evolved enough for energy companies to migrate to industrial grade networks with wide coverage areas, ultra-low latency and commercial-level security and reliability.

We’ll also see the build out of enhanced network operation centers that provide more web-based insight into provisioning, trouble ticket tracking and fault location. Utility companies will look to third-party providers like Numerex to store and protect their data.

John Andre is currently Product Manager for Numerex’s Technology Solutions Business. Previously, he was VP of Business Development for Airdesk, Warminster PA. In addition he was the National Sales Manager for Motorola’s commercial cellular data business in their Personal Communications Sector.