Telekom Austria Group M2M has said it is ready to begin a large-scale roll-out of smart meters in Austria with its Österreich Zähler system.
Österreich Zähler, designed in collaboration with smart meter providers Kamstrup and Kaifa, has been designed to allow smooth interplay between hardware, firmware and the communications network whilst also keeping the meter’s own energy consumption at a low level.
The system uses a combination of GPRS and mesh-radio technology provided by Danish smart reader provider Kamstrup. The first stage of the roll-out took place in Ybbs an der Donau, in partnership with regional energy supplier E-Werk Wüster.
Österreich Zähler uses A1 GPRS technology that negates to need for additional infrastructure, making it available for immediate country-wide roll-out and allowing for the systematic replacement of existing meters.
This makes it “a flexible, cost-effective and future-proof solution for domestic electricity providers,” according to the company.
Bernd Liebscher, Managing Director at Telekom Austria Group M2M, said: “By collaborating with Kaifa and Kamstrup, two leading industry suppliers, Telekom Austria Group M2M is not only able to provide a future–proof solution based on a standardised mobile technology but also a secured sourcing for GPRS meters.”
Smart meters allow both energy companies and homeowners to better record energy usage, increasing transparency whilst also helping promote energy saving.
Legal framework laid out in Austria in 2011 and 2012 requires 95 percent of all existing electric meters to be replaced by smart meters by the end of 2019.
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