Itron and Cisco announced a strategic alliance designed to deliver an Internet Protocol-based communications platform to the smart grid market and help advance more reliable delivery of energy across the electric distribution system. The first action to come out of the collaboration was the acquisition of Arch Rock, a maker of IP-based, wireless networking technology.
Itron also announced that one of the UK’s leading water and wastewater providers, Severn Trent Water, is implementing an automated meter reading solution developed by Itron. Itron is providing residential water meters pre-equipped with its EverBlu AMR module, handheld units, and MV-RS meter reading software to collect manual, encoded, and radio reads throughout Severn Trent Water’s territory. The AMR project includes deployment of up to 400,000 residential water meters.