Urgent Communications Tech Talk

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Talking Points

Notion of WiMAX-based smart grids picks up steam

Smart-grid and WiMAX technologies quickly are becoming intertwined, as utilities around the world have begun announcing their intentions to test smart-grid networks based on WiMAX.
Last month, Australian utility SP AusNet announced plans to build its own WiMAX network using gear from Motorola, software from Grid Net and smart meters from General Electric, which has teamed with Intel to develop a WiMAX chip that is embedded in the meters.

The network, which operates in the 2.3 GHz band, will be designed to monitor electricity usage for more than 680,000 customers in Victoria by 2013.

U.S. utilities are committed to WiMAX, too, and others are studying it. For instance, CenterPoint Energy in Texas was the first utility in the United States to put a stake in the ground for WiMAX; it wants to install smart meters for its 2.4 million customers in Houston using a self-contained WiMAX network. National Grid, the country's second-largest utility, is establishing a proof-of-concept solution using Alvarion's WiMAX gear as part of a test bed for potential pilot projects in New York, Massachusetts and Rhode Island. Meanwhile, San Diego Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison also are studying ways to use WiMAX in smart-grid deployments. Read More

A note to our readers: We will not publish Urgent Communications Tech Talk next Wednesday. We will resume our regular publishing schedule the following week.

In the News

IEEE brings ‘all-you-can-eat’ model to standards development

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers Standards Association said it has enhanced its corporate membership program to include a new, advanced level that offers unlimited participation in entity-based working groups along with a simpler fee structure designed to reduce costs for many companies. The changes will take effect in 2010. Read More

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