And it’s going to be necessary again in 2040.
However, this is sufficiently far in the future that it is unlikely to trouble policymakers anytime soon.
Lol.
I can’t tell if the numbers are bloated for pushing an interest, but with having to spend those billions every 15-20 years, it would probably be cheaper to hire meter readers or pay to keep the 2G available.
modular designs prevent this, but nowadays everything must be evil
Utility meters last for decades. Making them reliant on a cell network that’s constantly changing wasn’t such a good idea. They should have licensed some low band UHF frequencies and set up their own network. It doesn’t take much bandwidth to read some meters.
It would’ve made sense if the Meters were made modular with a removable antenna/mobile data modules - rather than having to replace loads of perfectly functioning smart meters because the energy companies wanted to save a few bob 20 years ago.
It was a rush job, as the old analogue meters depended on a signal piggybacking on BBC R4 LW’s broadcast to switch Economy 7 timings. This ran from the Droitwich transmitter that depended on a specific type of valve which ceased production in the 1980s. In the 2000-10s the BBC bought the last 12 unused valves in the world, but couldn’t make longevity guarantees. The smart meters had to be in place before the transmissions stopped. The transmitter shut down in June.
Wait, why are the individual meters wireless at all?
It seems like if you’re running a power cable for ~200 A service (Idk what UK standard is, but that’s what I used to in US), running a small fiber cable in parallel would be trivial - and I expect the data rates coming from these would make a fiber connection “future proof” in the most literal sense of the word.
That would mean digging up existing powerlines into every home though. Making them wireless v8a cellular modem makes them independent enough and avoids depending on WiFi which would place the burden of connectivity on the residents.
Because the power cables have been installed 100 years ago. They are not going to dig them up to run data lines.
Wireless smart meters are in place in other countries as well (Germany for example). However, the wireless module is just a plug in module, changing it out takes about 20 seconds.
Also in place in the US - they just use 433 MHz I believe, and some dude drives around in a truck collecting readings from the road.
Oh, missed that this is retrofitting onto old service. I suppose that does make sense (still kinda hate it).
Yeah, sounds Luke theyre making this more complicated than it needs to be.
