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Vi Business, the enterprise arm of Vi (Vodafone Idea Limited) has announced plans to enable 12 million smart meters in India within the next three years.
The India-based telecom service provider says in a release that the deployment will foster innovation in advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) and IoT solutions, aiming to develop a digitally empowered energy ecosystem, enabling advanced and prepaid electricity meters.
This will allow distribution companies (DISCOMs) to decrease Aggregate Technical & Commercial (AT&C) losses and provide consumers with immediate insights into their energy consumption.
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Commenting in a release on the development was Arvind Nevatia, Vi’s chief enterprise business officer: “We are pioneers in the smart meter energy ecosystem, first to deploy smart meters in 2018 and first to launch innovations like the IoT lab.
“We continue this commitment with an aim to deploy 12 million smart meters to reduce energy losses, improve efficiency and enhance consumer experience across India.”
Central to the deployment initiative is the Vi Business IoT Smart Central platform, which provides comprehensive visibility and control across millions of connected meters.
Vi Business says they have also developed structured methodologies for the pre- and post-onboarding of smart meters, in the aim of ensuring seamless integration and rapid scalability.
The company adds that telco-grade protocols provide data protection for utilities and consumers and that the company operates a cutting-edge IoT Lab for pre-deployment testing and certification, enabling faster and more reliable AMI rollouts.
According to Power Line reportage, although India’s Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS) has been a key reform in the distribution segment, progress on the country’s smart metering front has been slower than expected, due to initial challenges in the transition from post-paid to prepaid metering.
