Verizon Wireless and
Ambient have announced a joint marketing agreement intended to facilitate the deployment of a host of smart grid projects around the country.
The projects are expected to allow utilities to transmit data from both residential and commercial meters over the network to the utility companies’ in-house systems.
Ambient’s X-3000 node runs on Verizon (
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The Verizon Wireless network provides Ambient's (
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Alert) X-3000 with a secure data communications backhaul for the Ambient Smart Grid platform.
The Ambient Smart Grid platform is designed to support services like advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), energy management, real-time pricing, demand side management (DSM)/direct load control, and system monitoring.
“We've seen significant interest and growth in the utility sector for smart technologies,” said Mark Bartolomeo, vice president enterprise data sales at Verizon Wireless.
He said that this joint marketing agreement helps the company provide utility customers with a solution designed to help them plan for long-term growth and profitability.
Bartolomeo believes that this comprehensive platform holds great promise for extending smart grid applications nationwide.
“Verizon Wireless’ Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO) 3G network provides a secure, high-speed path for carrying data today and as the demand increases in the future,” added Bartolomeo.
This platform allows for two-way efficient collection, analysis and management of energy data to promote more reliable, affordable and environmentally friendly operations.
John Joyce, president and CEO at Ambient, said that as the demand for smart grid applications and bandwidth expands and becomes part of the nation's energy infrastructure, the opportunity to offer a solution that allows for such growth in demand should “significantly” enhance the utilities' ability to efficiently serve their customers and reduce their carbon footprint.
Earlier in January, Ambient
announced that the X-3000 communications node had been certified to run on the Verizon Wireless network through open development program.
Verizon Wireless officials said that their open development program is driven by the company’s desire to encourage innovation, give businesses new wireless choices, and address opportunities to expand the wireless market.
Anshu Shrivastava is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To read more of Anshu’s articles, please visit her columnist page.
Edited by Michelle Robart