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Soon your water, cooking gas and electricity meter reading will be transmitted automatically to the supplying agencies using airwaves.
The Department of Telecom is planning to de-license the 433 Mhz frequency band after several agencies including the Municipal Corporation of Greater Mumbai and Indraprastha Gas Ltd made a request for using the spectrum band.
Once this is approved by the DoT then the agencies will not have to send their agents to their customer's homes to get meter reading on a monthly basis. They will be able to retrieve the data using smart metering technology, which is widely used in developed countries.
Apart from usage, smart metering technology also allows utility firms to get consumption patterns, which enables them to use resources better. For instance, BC Hydro, a power transmission firm in Canada, claims that wireless smart metering have $500 million of “net positive benefits.”
While regular meters monitor general consumption during the day, smart meters can mark the time in which a consumer uses more electricity. This can help regulatory bodies introduce ‘time of the day' pricing — higher rates during peak hours and lower during non-peak hours.
Currently, there are some players in the market which have started doing this on the copperwire network. But since power networks are not designed to carry data, use of wireless technology will greatly improve the delivery mechanism.
Anti-theft devices
The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways has also sought permission to use this band for anti-theft devices to be fitted in motor vehicles. Such devices will enable consumers and the security agencies to locate stolen cars. Request has also been made by private players, including Digital Control Inc for horizontal directional drilling.
A number of countries including Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, European Union and New Zealand have de-licensed the 433 Mhz to 434 Mhz band. Apart from data telemetry, devices such as alarms, baby monitors, garage door openers, logistic systems can also be operated on this band.
DoT officials said that other countries permit these applications without licences and the service providers operate in shared bands as long as it does not cause interference to licensed operators. “We may consider the frequency band 433-434 Mhz for de-licensing on non-interference, non-protection and non-exclusive basis,” said an internal note prepared by the Wireless Planning Coordination wing of the DoT.
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