SmartGridNews.com The insider's guide to the modernization and automation of electric power
Grid Net: Banking on WiMax Acceptance By SGN Staff Jun 2, 2009 - 4:00:58 PM
In Brief: Grid Net
Grid Net’s singular product is enterprise software and telecommunications networking for the Smart Grid that uses an open, interoperable, policy-based network design. The software offers secure, scalable delivery.
So far, there’s been one application built on the software – GE’s WiMAX-based smart meter. The network management system works on the IEEE 802.16.e WiMAX wireless network platform.
Strengths
Ray Bell, founder and CEO, has a lot of experience. After helping Cisco build its network management systems, he was CEO of Silver Spring Networks, also a network systems company.
Partnering with GE and Intel gives Grid Net credibility and financial backing. Name brands are more comfortable for the utilities. Utility employees are less likely to be criticized for choosing a name like GE.
PolicyNet’s open architecture allows utilities to incorporate future technologies without being locked out by proprietary solutions.
Bell predicts WiMAX chip sets (now $36) will drop 67% in the next year, and perhaps be $6 to $8 in 18 months. He thinks the GE/Grid Net meters will undercut any of the meters on the market that use proprietary technology within that same time frame.
The open standard format on Grid Net’s software offers potential for integration with other products beyond GE Smart Meters.
Clearwire is developing the WiMAX network nationwide with support from cable firms, Google, Motorola, and Samsung. WiMAX uses the licensed wireless spectrum. It’s considered more reliable and secure than unlicensed spectrum, but the licenses adds costs.
Challenges
Grid Net’s software requires that WiMAX finds acceptance. First measurements may come from how quickly consumers sign up to use it with their laptops and other mobile devices; Intel has a new WiMAX chip. If adoption is slow, it may affect WiMAX build-out. Nokia has dubbed it the “wireless Betamax” implying it’s already dead.
Grid Net plans for broader use of the smart meter, like a router that can incorporate delivery of other services to the home. Smart meters may not have the muscle needed for the job.
Smart Grid networks may not need the capacity of WiMAX - cellular-type solutions may be adequate. Allies are also competitors. Cisco, Oracle, and GE are working with Silver Spring Networks, a startup similar to Grid Net. This leaves Bell competing with a company he headed for two years, which happens to be a GE partner as well.
Our View
With the recent GE / Silver Spring collaboration on the Florida Power and Light’s smart meter implementation, it’s apparent GE plans to be a player, no matter which team it’s on. Good strategy for GE, but it must feel like a setback to Grid Net.
Should WiMAX become the standard for Smart Grid systems, Grid Net could be a prominent leader. If the big players like GE, Intel, Cisco, and Google, who are hedging their bets in multiple directions, start to get traction with other players, Grid Net may need another plan.
Subscribe to our FREE eMail News Alert!
Smart Grid Newsletter (SGN) is the insider's guide to the Smart Grid revolution. It consists of a FREE bi-monthly email summary, along with a companion Web site that contains the full stories and other helpful materials. Benefits of subscribing: SGN is the only central source for all of the news, trends, research and marketplace information relevant to grid automation. In it, you will read about cutting edge technologies; successful pioneers and how they got ahead; regulatory changes that could unleash new markets; the latest research; and new opportunities for sales of grid-related products and services. © Copyright 2008 SmartGridNews.com |