Telekom Austria Group’s Smart Metering Business Continues to Gain Momentum: The City of Graz Switches to Smart Meters

The smart metering team of Telekom Austria Group M2M and the Austrian subsidiary of the Telekom Austria Group, A1, score yet another success with the rollout of smart electricity meters in the city of Graz. Within the next four years, the A1 Field Service Team will replace some 187,000 electricity meters in the city of Graz with smart meters on behalf of Stromnetz Graz GmbH & Co KG, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Energie Graz.

As well as the actual replacement of the current electricity meters, A1 will also organise the entire manpower planning, some of the material logistics and the customer project management. The switch to smart meters involves installing three-phase and alternating current meters, plug-in terminals and small terminal boxes. The project began in November 2016 and the actual rollout will take place from mid-2017 to the end of 2020.

'We are very proud to have achieved a further milestone in the rollout of smart meters in Austria. Our Field Service Team, the biggest technical customer service organisation in Austria, will complete the switch to smart meters quickly and efficiently with its know-how and expertise. This guarantees maximum customer satisfaction for Stromnetz Graz customers', said Martin Stiedl, Director Field Service, A1.

'After a very intensive tendering and negotiating phase, we are delighted to have won the contract for the first large-scale smart metering rollout project in Austria. The quality of our services and experience from other major projects demonstrate that we are a reliable partner for the smart meter rollout. We can provide these services throughout Austria', said Bernd Liebscher, Managing Director at the Smart Metering Competence Centre Telekom Austria Group M2M, commenting on the partnership.

Following the first area-wide smart meter rollout in Austria - in compliance with the current legal framework - in Ybbs an der Donau in cooperation with Wüsterstrom and the deployment of the 'Österreich Zähler' for Netz Burgenland, the collaboration with the city of Graz is another key milestone in the Telekom Austria Group's smart metering activities.

The demands on smart metering solutions are extremely heterogeneous: densely populated urban centres, rural areas and commercial and industrial districts present very different challenges to smart metering systems. The Telekom Austria Group offers customised solutions for the planning, rollout and operation of smart meter systems. These include certified meters ('Österreich Zähler'), turn-key rollout, smart data communication, meter data management and project management.

About Smart Metering
Smart metering, the deployment of smart electricity meters as the basis for efficient energy management, is just one of the many possible applications of M2M technology. Smart meters are a new generation of 'intelligent' electricity meters that measure power consumption at regular intervals and send automatic readings back to the utility company using a secure network. In 2011 and 2012 the legal framework for a nationwide smart grid rollout was put in place in Austria. As a result, 95% of all electricity meters will be replaced by smart meters by the end of 2019 with the ultimate goal of increasing transparency and promoting energy savings. In light of the planned introduction of smart meters, utility companies are currently preparing for the challenges that lie ahead. The necessary investments in smart meter systems, data transmission, installation, operating services and central IT infrastructure have to be made in a future-proof and cost-efficient manner with low risk and a rapid time-frame for implementation. As a dependable partner of energy supply companies Telekom Austria Group M2M provides high-security transmission networks for the data communication between the smart meters and the central system, and manages the installation and round-the-clock operation of the necessary infrastructure. Telekom Austria Group M2M offers end-to-end smart metering based on a multi-vendor portfolio and a wide array of proven communication technologies (GPRS, EDGE, UMTS, LTE, Mesh Radio).