The good news is only a few days old: With an amendment to the Italian “Simplifications” Decree, the authorisation to use the LoRaWAN and Sigfox radio frequencies by LPWAN operators has been made permanent.
LPWAN (Low Power Wide Area Network) radio technologies enable IoT (Internet of Things) in contexts where low power is sufficient. This applies, for instance, to sensors that transmit very small amounts of data over long distances by radio. These devices do not require SIMs nor WiFi and, since their data traffic is low, their batteries can last for years.
In the water metering sector we operate in, strong investments are forecast to be made in the next 10 years for the replacement and upgrade of the meters already installed in the system, especially in Europe.
Consider that, as an example, the approx. 20 million meters installed in Italy are on average 25 years old. Of those, the meters installed before 1994 lack any official test seal, while those installed before 1988 do not have any EEC type approval.
The use of the LPWAN radio spectrum does not only provide for remote reading of the meters, but allows also remote management and remote control of the water supply network, thus providing the opportunity to manage and reduce leaks and wastage of water, which is a scarce and essential resource for life on the planet, while monitoring the operating parameters of the network and making daily consumption data available to individual users.
IoT and the LoraWAN™ standard
Once again, Maddalena has been ahead of its time: The first product certification by the LoRa Alliance™ was received as early as November 2017. The LoRa Alliance™ was created with the aim of promoting globally the LoRaWAN™ standard for low consumption and long-range networks. Maddalena has been a member of the LoRa Alliance™ since 2016.
This product certification guarantees device interoperability and therefore the compliance of our ARROWWAN MVM 868 MHz model for use on LoRaWAN™ networks. The ARROWWAN radio module is designed to be used on MVM volumetric meters and, with its long-range transmission capabilities, offers an IoT end-point.
Maddalena has been studying and designing new solutions for the water meter market for years. Today, Maddalena offers a wide range of solutions for the connection and data exchange of meters on any type of short- and long-range network.
A pioneer in data transmission technologies, Maddalena is determined to remain abreast of the challenges of the market, and is committed to the continuous development of flexible mobile and fixed reading solutions based on new IoT paradigms and technologies.
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