Water & Wastewater Asia September/October 2019

10 | MARKET REPORT
operators Vodafone (Australia, Ireland and
UK), Telefónica (called O2 in the UK) and
Telstra. In Australia, Metasphere has been
testing RTU devices with NB-IoT with both
Vodafone and Telstra – and with the latter,
testing has included CAT-M1 (also known
as LTE-M, another LPWAN technology that
is part of the 4G standard).
In the UK, Metasphere has helped supply
Vodafone and O2 (who share mobilephone
infrastructure in the UK) with its
RTU telemetry devices, testing on NB-IoT
for Vodafone and CAT-M1 for O2. Through
its single global modem which spans both
technologies, the intuitive Metasphere
innovation promises flexibility and simplicity
with remote, configurable solutions that are
either CAT-M1 or NB-IoT.
Telstra and Vodafone in Australia are now
adding NB-IoT to their networks, both
helped by Metasphere, who tested NB-IoT
logging devices for Telstra before deploying
them for Sydney Water in May 2018. The
units have been performing admirably well,
across networks in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth
and Brisbane.
Vodafone Australia’s Executive General
Manager of Enterprise, Stuart Kelly, says
the new economically viable technology
has provided more openings for increased
connectivity between devices, and shown
considerably improved battery life: “NB-
IoT offers customers a range of benefits,
including greater power efficiency, which
means less need for investment in hardware
and resources relating to sourcing and
replacing batteries. The result is increased
longevity for assets, reducing the need for
site visits while devices are being used in
the field.”
Testing also revealed significant NB-
IoT-related improvements to coverage,
compared with previously deployed 2G, 3G
and 4G technology. Coverage is boosted
within a mast area through enhancements
in RF spectrum usage and modulation
schemes. Devices transmitted and received
signals through at least two double-brick
walls, meaning networks can be connected
in previously impenetrable places such
as basements and sewerage systems.
Metasphere has seen data being pulled
from three storeys underground (without
an external antenna) and similarly so from
below manhole covers and inside buildings.
When Vodafone Australia tested distance
coverage of up to 30km in the suburbs of
Melbourne was recorded, demonstrating
further how useful NB-IoT is to utility
companies gathering data across wide
networks.
Paul Hart, Metasphere’s Commercial Director,
said the company was “delighted to have
successfully trialled our Point Orange IoT
RTUs on both Telstra (NB-IoT and CAT-M1)
and Vodafone (NB-IoT) networks across
Australia and Vodafone and Spark’s NB-IoT
networks in New Zealand”.
“Interest in and uptake of our IoT RTUs by
water-sector clients,” he added, “has been
significant, with clients keen to use them
for monitoring flow, pressure, surface and
groundwater level, rainfall and water quality
– along with other critical information.”
Metasphere’s accurate and dependable
telemetry devices, partnering with Telstra
and Vodafone’s fully licensed spectrum and
3GPP-based secure mobile networks, have
improved services across many of Australia’s
key water-supply and water-resource
recovery utilities.
Telstra is also working with German firm
Software AG to develop a digital, automated
water management solution for utility
providers in Australia, harnessing the
combined forces of an NB-IoT network with
digital water meters, pressure sensors and
IoT analytics.
At Busselton Water in Western Australia,
which supplies 26,000-plus customers with
drinking water, Telstra aims to collect data on
pressure, consumption, and alerts such as
pressure drops from state-of-the-art digital
meters managed via its IoT platform and
Software AG’s ‘Cumulocity’ IoT Accelerator.
The venture is currently at proof-of-concept
stage, but Telstra plans in time to offer the
solution to water utilities across Australia.
Software AG, meanwhile, has big plans for
transforming healthcare through its IoT
technology, having done so for Singaporebased
Fullerton Health, which operates more
than 500 healthcare facilities and a network
of healthcare providers across Asia.
Vodafone’s NB-IoT deployment now also
covers China, South America and Europe,
and Metasphere is testing its IoT RTU
devices across a wide geographical area, too,
with reports of units operating successfully
immediately upon first activation. Its
‘Point Orange IoT’ battery-powered RTU
was unveiled in June this year, and the
Metasphere ‘Point Blue IoT’ ATEX-certified
unit is due for release late 2019.
It may not be too long before NB-IoT
becomes a household name and we find
this revolutionary technology connecting
everything and every one of us to a better
future. WWA
Water & Wastewater Asia • September / October 2019