BBC report: Smart Meters causing a North-South divide

Interesting news article ahead of a Panorama programme on the problems of smart meters in the North of the UK using the radio network whereas the South uses 3G (switch off of 3G network of course is a different issue) https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cq52382zd1no

Talks about problems with the two network solution that’s imposed by the government and does highlight that if you get a 3G connected service in the North (outside of the network agreement) then there’s no contractual support for your service…..

geoffreycoan
Very interesting. I am in the North and supposed to be on the RF system. After 3 years of moaning at Octopus and 12 different sets of gas and electricity meters, Octopus fitted a dual band comms hub (RF and GSM ?) with an antenna to the front of my electricity meter (the elec meters handle all the gas meter comms) and the smart meters then worked straight away.
Octopus told me this was "bending the rules" as really the DCC should have fixed the RF network near me, but agreed waiting over 3 years was no longer acceptable.

geoffreycoan Apart from the usual technical illiteracy from the BBC there is a valid point here.

O2 (Telefonica as was) have no contract to supply 3G for use by smart meters in the "North" and will be closing down the 3G service they supply to mobile customers in 2025. That means there won't be any 3G cells left running in the "North" from that date onwards.

They'll have to keep some 3G cells running in the "South" to comply with the existing smart meter contract which runs until 2033 IIRC but those cells won't be available to mobile customers, they'll just be for smart metering.

Vestas
Thanks
Does that mean that my meters will go dumb again if the RF system in the North has not been rectified by 2025?
I cannot complain to Arqiva who have the franchise for the RF as I have no contract with them, and I believe Octo went down the route they did with me (dual band) was because every time I complained to them, Octo complained to Arqiva and Arqiva probably said "we have hit X% of our requirements and so we are fine".
I live halfway between Skipton (4 miles) and Keighley (4 miles ) so I am not in the middle of nowhere!

SteveCook I don't know where the exact line is between this new "North" and "South" but unless your meter is connecting to a cell in the "South" then its probable they'll go dumb again when O2 turn off their 3G cells.

Just emailed Octo asking them if my meters will go dumb again shortly.
Doubt I will get any reply?

Does the aerial they fitted work for RF, 3G or both?

I'm assuming it's 3G only, but wondered if perhaps the aerial would help with the RF.

geoffreycoan Capita seem to be sheltering behind government contracts funded by our taxes:
From their website:

Capita’s areas of focus are Central Government, Local Public Service, Defence, Learning, Fire & Security, Contact Centres and Pensions Solutions.

Why can't my smart meter data be communicated by broadband?
And why does it have to go to Octopus via DCC and Capita?

Rob

TX200
I dont know.
All I know is that after 12 sets of meters (each 3 months apart) . the hub and aerial made things work.
I dont know if there is a way to tell

Rbor Why can't my smart meter data be communicated by broadband?

Presumably not everyone has broadband. And I think there are questions over data integrity (easier to hack if it's passing through your home network).

Rbor Why can't my smart meter data be communicated by broadband?

We’ve had this conversation before on here, I don’t know for sure, but if I was setting up a DCC service to collect smart meter readings and deposit them in a central database that electricity suppliers could then read, I would want control of as many aspects of my service as I possibly could have.

That includes the underlying network which I would want under my control, or at the very least contracted to a company to deliver to my SLA’s.

Yes there are issues with 3G and radio coverage but that’s nothing compared to the issues you would have with using customer broadband services. Lack of wifi signal in the meter cabinet, WEP/WPA/WPA2/WPA3 and all the encryption protocols to negotiate, the list goes on.
Just look at how many messages we see on this forum along the lines of “I just changed my broadband supplier and discovered that my GivEnergy inverter doesn’t connect any more. I never realised that could happen. How do I fix it?”

Then for your smart meter not sending meter readings back to the centre, most customers would never notice, or if they did they’d consider it a bonus that they were getting free electricity and no-one was collecting the meter readings.

And of course when smart meters were first deployed home broadband was much less prevalent than it is now, and you’d still need a network service for customers that don’t have home broadband.

What I find most scandalous is that Capital and the network providers can hide behind “we have 99.3%” network coverage. Something like 20 million homes in the UK, that’s about 140,000 customers who get zero network coverage, and then there’s the people with flakey coverage.

And why does it have to go to Octopus via DCC and Capita?

Because that’s the way the contract was setup by the government. Rather than having each electricity provider have to talk individually to the smart meters, the DCC provides a central service. Lowers the cost of entry for new electricity suppliers and sets clear boundaries of responsibility (well would do if they have a 100% service delivery requirement). Having two network providers is as the BBC report says is a bad idea.

SteveCook
I’ve had flakey results with meter readings being received by Octopus. Nothing like as bad as yours though, however Octopus have agreed to install a dual band comms hub next week. How big is the aerial/antenna as my metres are in an understairs cupboard?
From what I saw on BBC news earlier, the North/South divide line is Hull to Liverpool. I’m approx 30 miles north of Hull.

SteveClubley
my meters are in a cupboard under the stairs. a small unit clips to the front of the elec meter, the cable is about 1m long and the antenna is a small strip like a thick plastic 12" ruler.
They fixed the antenna to the underside of one of the stairs