Cellular Smart Electricity Meter Market
October 26, 2011
A new report from IMS Research titled ‘The World Market for Smart Electricity Meters – 2011’ indicates that advanced electricity meters with integrated cellular communication modules are forecast to increase from 2.6 million shipments in 2010 to 9.5 million shipments annually in 2016.
The US and UK are forecast to experience the largest volumes of cellular shipments through 2016. In the US, telecoms have reduced the cost of data plans for meters significantly to approximately $1 or less per meter, per month. Utilities that want to reduce up front capital expenditures and reduce operating expenses are realizing the benefits of using public cellular providers. Operating costs are lowered by reducing or eliminating the networking and maintenance staff needed to maintain a metering network.
In the US, a larger percentage of the opportunity for new smart meter installations will likely come from smaller utilities that have spread-out populations in diverse geographies.
As telecoms providers lower the total cost of ownership for a cellular-based smart metering solution, not only will small utilities in the US switch to a cellular option but larger utilities in the US and throughout the world may begin to seek ways to collaborate with local telecoms to make cellular a more viable option.
The UK is forecast to have the largest cumulative volume of cellular smart meters in the world from 2010 to 2016. Cellular solutions are key in the UK due to the general structure of the utilities and grid operators, whereas a meter change-out may happen piecewise making cellular M2M devices the likely solution. Some suppliers are planning to ship cellular meters in 2012 and as telecoms in the UK begin to see the business opportunity in the US mature, telecoms providers in the region are likely to follow and make pricing per meter more competitive.
