Nancy, All... more meter reading...see article below
I do not see why sprint or another PCS provider could not offer a similar service using their existing spectrum and wireless network. Is there a technical difficulty that I am missing here? Also, I suspect that if the electrical utilities were not regulated monopolies operating on what is basically a cost-plus basis this would have been done long ago.
BCN Data Systems Awarded Exclusive
Nationwide 184 MHZ License to Provide Utilities
Advanced Remote Metering and Data Services
Licensing Completes Company's Two-Year UK Technology Development
Program
SAN FRANCISCO, Nov. 19 /PRNewswire/ -- BCN Data Systems, L.L.C. (BCN), a joint
venture of Bechtel Enterprises, Inc. and CellNet Data Systems, Inc., today announced that the
Radiocommunications Agency has awarded its UK subsidiary, BCN Data Systems Limited, a
nationally exclusive 200 kHz radio frequency license between 183.5 MHz and 184.5 MHz.
BCN will use the allocated frequency block to provide energy utilities and suppliers fixed-network
wireless information services that automate the manual meter reading process and deliver other
real-time, distribution network data.
''We are delighted that the Radiocommunications Agency has awarded BCN a national and
exclusive radio frequency licence,'' said William J. Glasgow, president and chief executive officer,
BCN Data Systems, L.L.C. ''BCN can now deliver a wide range of services to utilities and
suppliers that will help them to succeed today, and in the competitive landscape of the new
millennium.''
''This technology will also give our utility customers the ability to differentiate their product offering
by eliminating intrusive and inconvenient meter reads, and by enabling a variety of pricing and billing
options not previously possible,'' added Glasgow.
The licensing completes BCN's two-year development program that saw the successful migration of
its Local Area Network digital cellular technology to the 184 MHz frequency from the 900 MHz
frequency, originally developed for the United States market by BCN's technology parent company,
CellNet Data Systems. BCN holds the exclusive licence for CellNet Data Systems' technology in
markets outside the United States.
''All of the pieces are now in place to deliver utilities a scalable, real-time information service over a
network that has nation-wide coverage,'' said Jerry Sprecher, vice president, operations, BCN
Data Systems, L.L.C. ''BCN is ready for full-scale deployment throughout the United Kingdom.''
The Radiocommunications Agency grant of the 184 MHz radio frequency to BCN Data Systems
coincides with the anticipated resolution of the rules that will govern metering by the Office of
Electricity Regulation (OFFER). The confluence of these two events is expected to lead to the
wide-scale commercial deployment of network meter reading systems in the first half of 1999.
About the Product
BCN-Network is a fixed-network wireless information service with powerful object-driven
network management tools that offer utilities the ability to remotely meter and monitor endpoint
devices distributed over a wide geographic area. Unlike drive-by or hand-held AMR products,
BCN-Network offers utilities real-time information on the status and health of their distribution
networks, thereby empowering utilities to operate more efficiently and to offer their customers
improved service and choice. With its two-way communication capability, the network creates a
platform for utilities to offer new products and services to customers including interactive home
energy management.
About the Companies
CellNet Data Systems, Inc., cellnet.com with headquarters in San Carlos, Calif., is a
market-leading provider of open-architecture fixed-network wireless information services. CellNet
Data Systems' networks are the largest of their kind in the world, and enable a wide range of
real-time customer information services and applications for the energy industry and other
commercial markets. CellNet Data Systems has contracts for its network services in seven
metropolitan areas in the United States covering 3.9 million meters of which 1.7 million are online.
Bechtel Enterprises, Inc., bechtel.com is the development, financing and ownership
affiliate of Bechtel Group, Inc., one of the world's premier engineering, construction and project
management companies. Since 1990, it has arranged more than $12 billion in project financing
world-wide and has developed 26 power projects in construction or operation, with a total
generating capacity of more than 7120 megawatts. Bechtel Telecommunications is one of the most
experienced wireless site builders in the world, contracting with US West, Sprint, and others to
build more than 5,300 PCS sites in the United States, including a record-setting 2,500 cell sites in
12 months. Bechtel employs 30,000 people world-wide with 2,800 employees in the United
Kingdom. |
