As the sportscasters say – it’s a whole new ball game! Telecom’s heavy hitters are taking to the Smart Grid field. On the heels of AT&T’s deal with Smart Synch, Verizon Wireless has inked a joint marketing agreement with metering vendor Itron. Using an existing network (like Verizon’s cellular system) saves utilities the trouble and expense of  building and operating networks of their own.

AT&T’s deal represents a bigger shift, because it connects meters directly to the phone network. Verizon’s deal is just for the backhaul portion. Itron’s own RFLAN carries meter data to collection points; the Verizon WAN carries the information the rest of the way.

But even though Verizon is just talking backhaul for now, I think the move is a good sign. Verizon is finally taking the initiative in looking for ways to add value in the Smart Grid sector. (Instead of passively waiting for utilities to show up on its door with backhaul requests.) With two big telecoms on the field, we can hope that one of them will soon hit a home run for utility customers – namely a cellular-based system that is cheap enough and secure enough to suit the Smart Grid market.