Sprint supports smart grid initiatives across the US

Sharon

Sharon Gill

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12th August 2009

For many years, Sprint has been supplying embedded CDMA- & iDEN-based communication technologies for a variety of M2M applications within the energy and water industries.

With innovative telecommunications products, competitive data services, secure IT solutions and strong partnerships, Sprint now supports a wide range of utility automation initiatives in meeting the US energy challenges of the 21st century.

The importance of securing and strengthening America's national electric grid was recently highlighted by the Energy Information & Security Act of 2007 and re-affirmed through the 2009 ARRA Stimulus funding opportunities offered by the Department of Energy under the Smart Grid Investment & Development Grant Programs.

Sprint intends to play a key role as a telecommunications provider in helping to achieve this national objective.

"While our competition is just recognising this space, Sprint has been supporting utility automation for years and most recently the Smart Grid ecosystem, as a key wireless and wireline provider," says Paget Alves, president of Business Markets Group at Sprint.

Sprint is now focused on supporting its electric customers with their Smart Grid initiatives, including key applications such as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), SCADA, Demand-Response (DR) Distribution Management System (DMS) and M2M applications.

The underlying foundation of Smart Grid initiatives involves advanced communications, information technology, distributed sensing and comprehensive data management overlayed to the electric grid to enhance reliability, optimise energy delivery, empower the consumer and minimise the industry's environmental impact.

As a commercial carrier operating multiple digital networks and delivering 2.5G, 3G, and now 4G mobile broadband services, Sprint now plays a critical role in such utility initiatives. Additionally, through its Converged Network Services group, Sprint is able to design custom network solutions, extend coverage and integrate complex network solutions to meet the demanding requirements of our customers for such mission critical applications.

With the US government's recent focus on energy independence and Smart Grid initiatives, Sprint has become even more engaged with electric utilities as well as government agencies, industry alliances and key technology partners in this space.

"To help facilitate the extensive ecosystem of smart devices, enable key application providers and provide secure IP based communications solutions, Sprint also offers the most comprehensive Open Device Initiative of any carrier, with the sole focus of certifying wireless devices quickly at minimal costs to our partners and meeting the needs of our utility customers in this critical time of transition," said Alves.