• Sigfox South Africa has been selected to run the network for the country’s smart water meters.
• The selection was made by the National Treasury and will see Sigfox handle a network of more than 15 million smart water meters.
• Moving forward, existing meters will be adapted or replaced to become smart meters to improve revenue collection.

Smart meters for utilities in South Africa are quickly becoming a reality for homeowners, and for the National Treasury’s network of smart water meters, Sigfox South Africa has been selected to provide the backbone.

The service provider confirmed that it has been selected for the network together with various system integrators via its IoT infrastructure.

This will see existing meters adapted or replaced to become smart water meters to improve revenue collection and service delivery, according to the National Treasury.

“Water is a basic human right, and we are proud to be associated with provision of such essential services, supporting both revenue collections and provision. The fact that the National Treasury has entrusted Sigfox to monitor and support over 15 million smart water meters in the country underlines how robust the technology is. We expect this to be a catalyst to further grow our local IoT and system integrator ecosystem,” noted Greg Rood, CEO of Sigfox South Africa, in a release shared with Hypertext.

The CEO explained that Sigfox was selected to support the smart water meters due to its extensive network coverage and the robustness of its technology.

More specifically the low power consumption of Sigfox 0G, which is a preferred technology for utilities and has an established track record of supporting large commercial utility deployments in South Africa.

“The superior range and penetration of the advanced Sigfox ultra-narrowband (UNB) signal makes it the ideal connectivity choice to reach meters that are often installed in challenging environments,” it added.

On this front, the Sigfox SA network already covers 91 percent of the South African population, which makes any need to extend or densify the network quick and cost-effective, according to Rood.

“The technology has an extremely low power reliance. The smart meter devices are sealed and waterproof, with batteries built in. Our devices will last for over 10 years at one reading a day, which far exceeds the three-year lifespan stipulated on the tender,” the CEO continued.

“Due to this extended lifespan, it’s practically an ‘install and forget’ scenario, which cuts costs and optimises resources. Sigfox’s benefits also include ease of installation, accuracy and reliability. And the fact that the network is independent means there is no reliance on Wi-Fi or fibre in the ground,” he concluded.

At the time of writing it is unclear when the process of upgrading or replacing smart water meters will take place, but once complete, it will be facilitated by Sigfox.

[Image – Photo by Silvan Schuppisser on Unsplash]