Utilities

Overview

Miltel's Automatic Meter Reading system has a history of proven performance and had been in actual field use for more than ten years.  The system includes a full range of radio-based solutions and an open-architecture management system.  With its large number of sites around the world, Miltel has gained extensive experience in designing and operating fixed-network systems under a wide variety of conditions and local requirements.

A true multi-utility system, Miltel's AMR supports water, gas, and electric meters all within the same network.

Miltel believes that the true potential of an AMR deployment lies in enabling utilities to manage their assets, not simply in measuring consumption.  Miltel's AMR system reads and delivers a continuous stream of data, enabling the management system to provide not only extensive billing information but also management intelligence that can lead to significant savings on an on-going basis.

Miltel's AMR/AMM system has been installed around the world and is suitable for water, gas, and electric utilities

Concept- from reading meters to managing infrastructure

Miltel believes that the true potential of an AMR deployment should encompass more than simply recording consumption once a month or so.  Miltel's AMR reads and delivers a continuous stream of data, enabling the management system to provide not only extensive billing information but also management intelligence that can lead to significant savings on an on-going basis.

The system is based on a fixed network architecture that has been designed by Miltel's telecommunication engineering team.  The system layout includes gateways for data collection and processing and repeaters to extend the system network coverage.  The design is based on low cost, multi-meter, multi-utility (water/gas/electricity) one-way and two-way transmitters, that the strategic placement of high sensitivity receivers.  Information is collected continuously from meters and sent out in radio packets based on a set of time and consumption algorithms.  Information is transferred from the gateways via WiFi, Cellular (GPRS), or LAN to the control center for analysis.

Benefits to Utilities

Real Time - The fixed-network solution of Miltel's AMR is more than a calculated technological choice, it is the answer to the market's clear imperative for management tools for the metering infrastructure.  Put simply, reading water consumption every one to three months gives utilities very little information on which to act.  By the time a leak or a stopped meter has been detected, months gave gone by wasting valuable water and making repairs more expensive and cumbersome.

Ease of Installation - Retrofitting existing buildings with new technology is usually considered an expensive and difficult challenge.  Not so with Miltel.  The wireless nature of our solutions eliminates the need for digging, trenching, etc.  There are no street-work issues to contend with and only minimal installation labor costs.  Moreover, the highly efficient fixed-network configuration, where a single gateway can handle thousands of endpoints, means that the costs and difficulties associated with attachment rights are minimized.  In many cases, a single Miltel endpoint can be connected to up to four meters without any degradation in service.

Robust, resilient, reliable, accurate - Miltel's systems are designed with the long run in mind.  Our endpoints are designed with effective service lives that exceed ten years.  The system can also warn of tampering attempts, non-advancing meters, and flag a variety of non-standard consumption patterns that warrant further investigation (slow leaks, pipe bursts, etc.)

Global deployment

Miltel has installed SpeedRead systems in a large number of different operating environments.  The systems have received approval for use in the United States, throughout Europe, as well as the Far East.  Miltel's experience includes implementations of its technology in projects with complex buildings, widespread townships, underground installations, and many other difficult to read meter installations.

Miltel has implemented its system to operate at a number of different unlicensed and licensed radio frequencies in the range of 150Mhz - 470Mhz.  The system works with any pulsed output or encoded meter, whether it's gas, electric, or water.