However, Tony Kalcina, founder and Chief Product Officer of Clarity, believes that while Smart Grid technology is doubtless a major part of the future of utilities and communications, it’s still some ways off, in terms of unified definitions and standards.
“There’s no clear definition as to what a “Smart Grid” is, exactly,” said Kalcina. “There is some commonality, but everyone has their own interpretation, from state to state and power company to power company.” Kalcina notes that in some parts of Australia, where Clarity has been engaged in utility work, as well as its more traditional, telecom OSS/BSS, “Smart Grid” refers to updated, real-time metering. In other areas, “Smart Grid” refers to not only smart metering, but smart architecture as well. And how far are we from a common way forward in pursuing this end? Kalcina predicts we’re at least five years away from establishing the sort of protocols we would need to move forward as an
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Smart Grids represent not only a boon for power management and green technology, but a boon for communications players as well. |
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This issue of Pipeline is all about alternative monetization for communications players who have seen their primary revenue sources slip in the last few years. Smart Grid, and its need for real-time monitoring, accurate data on usage, and other needs that play into the core competencies of telecom operators and vendors could be exactly what these firms need to generate new revenue. After all, far more homes have power than have voice lines or high-speed data.
As Smart Grid continues to flesh itself out, we’ll watch its growth, mindful of the fact that some of the very intelligence we want our grid to possess is already contained within our communications capability.
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industry toward some sort of OSS/BSS standardization for Smart Grid tech. “I think it will be multiple years before there will be a number of examples,” said Kalcina, “and then more time before the standards bodies get involved to the point they are in telecom.
However, even if it takes some time to get there, Smart Grids represent not only a boon for power management and green technology, but a boon for communications players as well. There’s been some attention paid to a statement by a Cisco marketing VP earlier this summer in which the representative reported that Smart Grid tech could be 1,000 times larger than the internet. While that statement isn’t quite ready to stand on its own just yet, it is symptomatic of some very real enthusiasm in the space for what the Smart Grid is capable of doing for the communications space.
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