Bglobal and Vodafone deliver cost and carbon savings ... - Vodacom

Vodafone Global M2M
Bglobal and Vodafone deliver
cost and carbon savings for
businesses with smart metering
UK case study

Vodafone Global M2M
Bglobal is a UK company that helps businesses manage energy consumption
through smart metering. It has worked with Vodafone to develop a machine
to machine (M2M) solution which can help businesses to cut energy costs
and reduce carbon emissions. Vodafone itself has shown 10% cost savings
amounting to £2 million annually by reducing electricity consumption at its
base stations due to smart metering.

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Bglobal and Vodafone deliver
cost and carbon savings for
businesses with smart metering
The need
Businesses everywhere are under pressure to manage their
energy consumption to reduce operating costs and cut
carbon emissions. Smart metering technology provides
accurate bills and real-time information, helping companies
to meet these goals.
To take its own business as an example, electricity consumption
is a major cost for Vodafone worldwide.
In the UK, Vodafone has 12,000 base stations, with an annual
electricity bill of around £20 million. Most of these sites are
unmanned with restricted access, creating obvious difficulties in
reading the meters manually. This means that Vodafone at some
sites have had mostly estimated bills over many years.

Vodafone Global M2M
“We see Vodafone as a partner not just a supplier.
Their support has been second to none, and the
reliability and resilience of the GPRS backbone
network have been excellent.”
Tony Stiff, Commercial Director, Bglobal
5% cost savings on bills due to improved
accuracy of smart metering
The Solution
To monitor its electricity consumption,
Vodafone installed remote Automated
Meter Reading (AMR) equipment at its
base stations in the UK.
Bglobal manages the data collection, and
its equipment provide a reading every
30 minutes. This data is transmitted over
Vodafone’s GSM or GPRS network to a
central server at Bglobal’s headquarters.
The meter readings are provided to
Vodafone’s electricity provider, which
means the invoices are now accurate. As
the previous estimated bills were too high,
this means that Vodafone is on track to
save around 5% on its bills simply due to
the improved accuracy of smart metering.
“While moving from estimated bills to
accurate readings won’t always bring bills
down, there is a tendency for estimates
to be higher not lower,” said Tony Stiff,
commercial director at Bglobal.
“Whether bills are reduced or not,
companies want accurate information
for budgeting purposes.”
There is a also a direct cost saving as
Vodafone staff no longer need to arrange
access to the base stations for meter
readings, which costs between £50 and
£100 for each visit.
Reducing consumption
The real-time data provided by the smart
meters also allows Vodafone to monitor its
power usage.
This enables it to make more informed
energy management decisions and put in
place measures to reduce consumption,
saving money and reducing the
environmental impact of its base stations.
The energy savings due to smart meters
can be as simple as identifying where
energy consumption is higher than
expected and taking action.
For example, one Bglobal customer
investigated unexpected electricity usage
in its offices overnight, and realised its staff
were turning off their PC screens but not
shutting down the computers themselves.
Once this was addressed, the company’s
electricity usage fell by more than 10%
from this simple step.
Vodafone has made further power savings
of at least £1 million annually by replacing
air conditioning at some sites with fan
cooling systems, which consume much
less power.
This saving has only been possible due to
the data provided by the smart meters.
“Usually we replace the settlement meter,
which is the main meter at a site that
gathers the data for billing,” said Stiff.
“More sophisticated energy managers
are putting additional smart meters into
buildings or even on individual appliances,
and this all feeds through to a single
management system to help them
monitor consumption.”

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“Vodafone has been a development partner for the
smart metering service, and we have been able to
work well together.”
Tony Stiff, Commercial Director, Bglobal

Vodafone Global M2M
Vodafone is working with Bglobal
to provide smart metering
solutions worldwide
Reliable network
A smart meter must be connected
reliably to a central data collection point,
and this requires an effective two-way
communications infrastructure.
Vodafone has 20 years of proven
experience in M2M communications,
and can provide the network
coverage and resilience required
for metering applications.
“Vodafone has been a development
partner for the smart metering service, and
we have been able to work well together,”
commented Stiff.
In terms of coverage, Bglobal has found
that the frequency used by Vodafone
helps with the penetration of the mobile
signal inside businesses and homes,
when compared to other network
providers in the UK.
Carbon reductions
As well as cost, carbon is a major focus
for enterprises. Around 5,000 of the
UK’s largest businesses, as well as
thousands of public sector organisations,
fall within the scope of the UK’s Carbon
Reduction Commitment.
This is a compulsory scheme requiring
the businesses to reduce their emissions
or buy allowances, providing an added
financial benefit to cutting carbon.
The scheme includes an annual ‘league
table’ of emissions performance which
determines the size of any fines for
excessive carbon emissions.
Outside the UK, there is similar
government action putting pressure on
businesses to cut emissions. Vodafone
is working with Bglobal to provide smart
metering solutions worldwide, helping
companies to reduce carbon, cut
energy bills and manage their energy
consumption more effectively.

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Key Benefits
• Vodafone has saved at least £2
million annually on its UK energy
bills due to smart metering solutions
from Bglobal
• Vodafone has reduced its carbon
emissions and the environmental
impact of its base stations
• Vodafone has been able to more
efficiently manage its resources due
to the accurate, real-time metering
data provided by Bglobal
• Vodafone’s payback time in the UK
from investing in smart meters was
less than one year.
“More sophisticated energy managers are putting additional
smart meters into buildings or even on individual appliances,
and this all feeds through to a single management system
to help them monitor consumption.”
Tony Stiff, Commercial Director, Bglobal

UK case study
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