SUNNYVALE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Tropos Networks, the best-of-breed provider of wireless IP broadband networks for the smart grid, announces that the City of Stillwater’s Department of Water Utilities has completed installation of a Tropos GridCom network as the communications infrastructure for backhaul of their water automatic meter infrastructure (AMI) rollout. The goal of the $8.6 million water AMI program, funded in part by a $1.42 million American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) grant, is to improve operational efficiencies and billing accuracy as well as overall service to 18,000 residential and commercial water customers.
“Moving forward we plan to use the Tropos network for a variety of city services including mobile public safety, traffic control and for other mobile city workers. The Tropos mesh network will replace cellular communications used today by our mobile municipal workers and deliver much higher bandwidth and greater reliability. A citywide wireless broadband network is economical and improves efficiencies and services to the community,” said Roy Lavicky, director of information technology for the City of Stillwater.
The AMI program includes replacing 18,000 water meters that in many cases are over 40-years old, with smart meters that will be monitored and read centrally. Approximately 2,500 of the new meters have already been installed. Through the water meters and Tropos’ GridCom network architecture, Stillwater will improve billing accuracy and will have more usage data and time of use (TOU) information for efficient load balancing of water flow. Another significant benefit is the elimination of manual water meter reads and expensive truck rolls for service disconnects.
“The City of Stillwater is a great example of the versatility and economics of our private IP communication networks,” said Tom Ayers, president and CEO, Tropos Networks. “We congratulate Stillwater for their vision and the implementation of technologies that will improve operational efficiencies and quality of life in the community.”
About Tropos
Tropos® Networks is a worldwide leader in creating best-of-breed IP broadband technologies used for mission-critical communications. The company has more than 800 customers in over 30 countries. Founded in 2000, Tropos Networks headquarters are in Sunnyvale, California. To learn more about Tropos Networking the Smart Grid, visit: www.tropos.com.