As part of the government tender for 5 million smart meters which are to be deployed across Uttar Pradesh and Haryana, Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) is roping in leading telecom players Airtel, Vodafone, Idea and BSNL for providing connectivity.
A smart meter is a new kind of electricity meter that can automatically send meter readings to the power supplier for billing and help consumers better understand their energy usage. The smart meters tender is divided into two parts — meter procurement and system integration.
System integrators will take care of meter installation, data storage on Cloud, and preparing dashboards, among other things. They have been given the choice to rope in telecom operators for providing data connectivity and charge for these services in return.
The system integrators bid is presently through the technical stage, and companies like Larsen &Toubro (L&T), Keonics, China-based IESLAB have evinced interest in the same.
EESL is looking at a GPRS-based model for smart meters, which is basically placing a SIM card in the meter for communication.“Ultimately, the biggest gainers will be these data networks as 50 lakh data points will be connected (in Haryana and Uttar Pradesh), which they are getting paid every month. So for them this is big business. They would very much like to make sure that the signals are up and running.