Ericsson scores Estonian smart meter contract

Estonian electricity distribution network Elektrilevi, this week signed an eight-year contract with Swedish telecoms vendor Ericsson to supply, deploy, integrate and run a smart-metering network in the country.

Estonia said it was motivated to install smart meters to contribute to the EU target of improving energy efficiency by 20 per cent by 2020. Elektrilevi has nearly a half-million subscribers on its network and maintains and repairs almost 61,000 kilometers of power lines and more than 22,000 substations.

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Smart Meters Make It Possible For Consumers To Control Their Energy Consumption

Ericsson will supply and deploy services on 2G/3G and power-line communication technologies for management and data information, including deployment of 630,000 smart meters.

The companies embarked upon a pilot project involving 5,700 smart meters earlier this year and the rollout of the rest of the meters will take place from 2013 to 2016.

The companies said smart meters make it possible for consumers to control their energy consumption and reduce costs by supporting new tariff models from utility companies, and supporting more accurate and timely billing.

Mait Rahi, manager of smart metering programme Elektrilevi, said: “The change from manual meter reading to automated remote meter reading will ensure more timely and more accurate billing of customers for their actual energy consumption and we will get more precise information from the electricity network and can take faster action in case of power interruptions and fraud.”