Next Generation Communications - Eco-sustainability Archives

EARTH Consortium Shows the Way to 70 Percent Energy Savings on Wireless Networks

2012-08-06T13:52:36Z

By Mae Kowalke

They wanted to reduce the energy consumption of mobile networks by half. Instead, they developed a framework that cut nearly three quarters of energy consumption.

Led by Alcatel-Lucent and Ericsson over the course of two and a half years, the EARTH (Energy Aware Radio and neTwork tecHnologies) consortium of 15 telecommunications providers, vendors and academic institutions developed everything from more efficient components in radio base stations to solutions on the radio network level, according to a press release from Alcatel-Lucent. The research was partially funded by the European Union’s Seventh Framework Program (FP7).

In the process, the consortium demonstrated how operators could save up to 70 percent of energy consumed in their networks using a holistic energy efficiency approach for 4G radio communications.

The consortium came to the conclusion that a holistic approach could save energy through:

Limits and metrics such as better deployment scenarios and traffic patterns
Better deployment of relays and overlay macro cell towers
Network management such as EE adaptive capacity
Radio technology and components like power-scalable transceivers and adaptive matching networks

Because the EARTH consortium was made up of operators and vendors, key components of the system were implemented, validated, experimentally analyzed and tested under realistic operating conditions in many cases. As Alcatel-Lucent noted this proved that the efficiency claims of the approach are more than just theoretical.

“We have taken Green to the heart of our research programs,” said Tod Sizer, head of access research at Alcatel-Lucent’s research arm, Bell Labs. “Our commitment to initiatives such as EARTH is a prominent example of how Alcatel-Lucent is driving sustainable innovation. We know it cannot be accomplished alone, and we need models of action like EARTH.”

“We were glad to have a leading role in the EARTH project, and to contribute to creating a broader understanding of trends in network energy consumption over the next ten years, added Jan Färjh, vice president and head of Ericsson Research. “It will be crucial for telecom companies to work even more actively with implementing the best practice concepts developed in the project into reality.”

The consortium also developed a framework for evaluating wireless energy efficiency. The EARTH Energy Efficiency Evaluation Framework (E3F) creates an objective and fair rating of wireless network energy efficiency. Major operators have long desired a global standard to measure wireless network energy efficiency, as part of their efforts for eco-sustainability and they now have one with E3F.

The EARTH consortium was composed of project coordinator Alcatel-Lucent, technical manager Ericsson, NXP Semiconductors France, DOCOMO Communications Laboratories Europe GmbH, Telecom Italia S.p.A., CEA, University of Surrey, Technische Universität Dresden, imec, IST- Technical University of Lisbon, University of Oulu, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, TTI and ETSI, according to the Alcatel-Lucent press release.

More information about the findings of the consortium can be found at the EARTH website.

Seven Steps to Assess Eco-Impact of ICT

2012-07-22T22:00:05Z

By Susan J. Campbell

As much as we have come to rely on communications technologies to stay connected and streamline business processes, those providing the access must still pay attention to the impact on the environment. Eco-sustainability in fact is emerging not just as an issue of being a good corporate neighbor, but as important for being a preferred provider of products and services. This is why it has become important that the telecommunications industry use a uniform protocol for measuring the eco-impact of its services and networks.

A recent Alcatel-Lucent TechZine article, Seven Steps to Greater Green House Gas Awareness in ICT, explored this topic. It highlights the new global standards designed to create a unified approach to the measurement of green house gas emissions. Focus is on current life cycle assessment tools such as those developed by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) which can be employed by ICT vendors, particularly the telecom ones, for estimating the eco-impact of services and/or networks in a meaningful and actionable way.

The good news is that current approaches offer flexibility in terms of the available data and the business purpose of assessments. Thus, by adhering to specified guidelines, service providers are able to more effectively and efficiently pinpoint potential problem areas, report on improvements and maintain best practices that can impact the environment.

A brief review of the ALU’s seven steps for doing a comprehensive assessment is instructive:

Define the business purpose of the assessment – each scenario may be different necessitating the need to clearly define the business purpose at the outset.
Define the scope – include a review of all equipment used, operational activities and a description of the function of the service.
Identify life cycle stages of the network, service or product – two stages are likely to exist: the embodied stage, or manufacturing, distribution, installation and end of life, and the use stage where the service is used and maintained.
Establish an inventory – measurements must be established for both the use and embodied stages.
Review allocation – multiple services may be sharing telecom equipment, or a single service is shared across multiple networks. An appropriate distribution of the emissions must be allocated to a specific service or network in the assessment process.
Selecting a calculation model – this should be suited to the specific business purpose, as well as to the quality and amount of information available in the process.
Completing the calculations – detailed recommendations on the calculation of emissions are included in the ICT Sector Guidance of the GHG Protocol Standards. Guidelines are organized according to service platform, customer domain and operational activities.

Those familiar with the next generation communications online community are probably aware from reading the featured articles and blogs of the past few years of ALU’s commitment doing well by doing good. From the top down, the company takes seriously not only its responsibilities to be a good steward of the earth’s resources, but its belief that its solutions should enable its customers to have a strong eco-sustainability strategy so they can do likewise, and that doing so is good for business as well as the environment.

Under the category that you can’t fix or improve what you cannot measure accurately, having the best tools and the right strategy for doing comprehensive eco-impact assessments is an important part of making sure ICT’s contribution to eco-sustainability it optimal. The TechZine article is a good place to start for obtaining detailed information on the seven steps, as well as the next steps you company may wish to institute to be a better environmental steward.

Alcatel-Lucent States Position on Corporate Responsibility, Sustainability

2012-06-25T14:53:23Z

By: Susan J. Campbell

Increasingly, corporations around the world have recognized that they have a responsibility to be good stewards of the earth’s resources and to act in an ethical manner that promotes eco-sustainability. Alcatel-Lucent considers corporate responsibility to be an important business imperative, and also believes that doing well and doing good can and should be mutually inclusive.

A recent Alcatel-Lucent 2011 Corporate Responsibility Report explores the company’s commitment to playing a key role in being a good steward. Alcatel-Lucent intends to continue its focus on not only making the communications solutions it produces eco-friendly, but doing so in a manner that also ensures they are accessible and affordable so that the full potential of a connected world can be realized.

A bold new direction in sustainability was initiated in 2011 with a focus on three core priorities:

Green innovation
Digital inclusion
People

Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment to its responsibilities have been put at the core of the company’s daily business through the adoption of a zero tolerance policy when compliance violations occur. Today, Alcatel-Lucent will only partner with those who support the company’s values and who respect their role as engaging citizens in a global community.

To demonstrate its dedication to sustainability, Alcatel-Lucent published approximately 50 new targets, aligning with the Dow Jones Sustainability Index and the United Nations Global Compact. This move exemplifies its ambition to make corporate responsibility a pervasive part of the corporate culture.

In looking ahead to 2012 and beyond, Alcatel-Lucent put forth the objective of setting a higher standard for corporate responsibility and sustainability. In doing so, the company took the step to ensure their strategy was positioned in line with the DJSI, while also integrating it with the UN Global Compact advanced-level principles. This includes the performance of the A+ GRI application level check, and the incorporation of the French Grenelle 2 requirements prior to the legal implementation.

Alcatel-Lucent prides itself on being a global leader in sustainability and performed its first materiality assessment to ensure the corporate and corporate responsibility strategies were focused clearly on those elements that most impact the business. And, to show this was much more than about them, the company reached out to partners, businesses, customers, members of civil society, NGOs and public stakeholders, in an effort to focus all of its stakeholders on the critical task of making communications more affordable, accessible in the context of sustainability.

As the video links highlight, this all starts at the top where CEO Ben Verwaayen has made being not just a good but a great corporate citizen a top priority. In fact, his passion for the subject has made Alcatel-Lucent one of the thought leaders on instituting best practices regarding responsibility and sustainability. The company is rightfully proud of its achievement so far, and is glad to spread the message that being a good steward is also good business.

Information and Communications Technology has Key Role in Green Economy

2012-04-30T17:03:37Z

By Mae Kowalke

It will take dedication, teamwork and technology to achieve the future we want in terms of reducing poverty, advancing social equity, and ensuring environmental protection. That’s the message behind upcoming Rio+20 UN Conference on Sustainable Development, this June in Brazil.

Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) and others are focusing heavily on technology as one key aspect in achieving a better future. At a Rio+20 planning conference earlier this month, Philippe Richard, who heads up green strategy at Bell Labs, participated in the closing panel, where he highlighted the role information and communications technology (ICT) plays in sustainable development.

“ICT is a mandatory enabler if we want to succeed in time,” Richard stressed in an ALU Corporate Responsibility blog entry. “The technology required for making a difference will mean leapfrogging for many.” To help push successful sustainable development, ICT must also be efficient and ubiquitous. “Ultimately access to broadband must be a top public policy priority for inclusive global sustainability,” Richard added.

ALU has been busy working on ICT solutions as a component of sustainable development, through Bell Labs. Its GreenTouch initiative is a co-creative platform the enables meaningful collaboration as part of the green economy. “Alcatel-Lucent’s ICT solutions contribute towards the much needed, low-carbon economy, including perspectives relative to national energy consumption patterns,” Richard noted.

A key message during the planning conference was that long-term results for sustainable development and the green economy depend on technology investments that yield OPEX savings—rather than short-term CAPEX deals. ICT has a lot of potential in this area, but needs more investment.

“Unfortunately, we are not going fast enough because of financial and economic roadblocks,” Richard said. “Even if the best technology is available, deployment is hindered by those limited by CAPEX only based decisions. This is where UN agencies, EU/global policy makers can help by providing appropriate policy support and incentives (including carbon pricing).”

It all boils down to investing wisely and starting early enough in development projects to make a lasting difference. Smart procurement, coordinated policy and reward programs for transformative technology are all important elements in creating a sustainable green economy.

For Richard, his colleagues at Alcatel-Lucent, and others involved in sustainable development, ‘green’ is the next big revolution of the 21^st century. With forecasted 27% increase in energy consumption associated with communications service provider networks now through 2016, the time is ripe to capitalize on ICT opportunities, including potential for 15% global emissions reduction by 2020.

“We have an enormous and still relatively untapped potential, to dramatically help other economic sectors to be greener,” Richard concluded.

Report: Chinese Information and Communications Technology (ICT) Industry Interested in Going Green, But More Development Needed

2012-04-30T16:04:49Z

By Mae Kowalke

People working in the Chinese information and communications technology (ICT) industry are open to the concept of going green, but need support and education to achieve carbon reduction targets using technology. That is the conclusion of a recent research study conducted at China’s Tsingua University Media Lab on behalf of Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) titled, “Green Information Communications Technology in China.”

The study involved surveying 1,072 ICT industry professionals from enterprises, associations, government departments, and higher education institutions in Beijing, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Nanjing. It found that most Chinese companies are aware of green technology efforts. In fact, 59 percent of respondents plan to go green. More than 90 percent of the professionals who participated believe technology can support a low-carbon economy through energy consumption reductions and motivating society to cut greenhouse gas emissions.

“The study found that 39 percent of businesses in China planned to reduce carbon emissions by 1-20 percent within the next three to five years with the national target of 17 percent in China’s 12th five-year plan,” ALU noted in announcing the research. “However there was resistance to adopting more sustainable policies due to what they see as high capital, time and human resource investment requirements,” they stated.

This suggests that a coordinated approach between the Chinese government, education authorities, enterprises and the technology industry will be the most successful way to reduce carbon emissions on a national scale using ICT.

“The relationship between ICT and the environment is complex and multi-faceted,” noted Rajeev Singh-Molares, President of Alcatel-Lucent’s Asia-Pacific Region, in the report. “Enterprises, government bodies and academic institutions need to work in tandem to spur the development and innovation of green ICT through environmentally sustainable models.”

Education is a key component of driving growth of ICT applications in a green economy.

Although the ICT industry in China overall has a consistently high view of this technology’s role in a green economy, knowledge levels of survey respondents varied when it came to ICT applications for carbon emissions reduction.

“Only 7.1 percent of enterprise respondents, 3.9 percent of college respondents and 16.7 percent of respondents from relevant departments of the government/associations could identify ten low-carbon technology applications… Respondents of ICT enterprises were most knowledgeable about green ICT’s ability to improve logistics and to provide alternatives to face to face communication,” the researchers found.

Based on results of this research study, ALU recommended that the Chinese government take several steps to promote ICT as a means of achieving carbon emission reductions and growing the green economy:

Strengthen awareness of how to implement green ICT
Educate IT professionals and organizational leaders about ICT’s potential beyond lowering IT costs
Actively promote relevant policy implementation
Explore radical approaches that go beyond making existing infrastructure more efficient

“With the information industry becoming one of China’s fastest growing economic sectors, green ICT provides a leapfrogging opportunity to mitigate some of the challenges in our environment, including climate change, energy efficiency and biodiversity among others,” Singh-Molares concluded.

Green Telecom & IT Workshop by IISc and Bell Labs

2012-04-23T13:57:53Z

By Vikram Srinivasan, Director, Networking Systems Research, Bell Labs, India

The GreenTouch consortium was formed with the ambitious goal of inventing new technologies that could reduce the energy expenditure of telecommunication networks by a factor of 1000 by 2015. Two of the newest members of the consortium are the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi and the Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, two premier research institutes in India. We recognized that India faces certain unique challenges and Green is not only far more relevant in emerging markets such as India, but also that emerging markets require certain unique technical challenges in the field of Green Networking. With this in mind, the Green Telecom and IT Workshop was co-organized by Bell Labs and IISc with support from GreenTouch to explore collaborative opportunities, on April 4-5, 2012.

The Workshop was kicked off with two exciting keynotes by Dr. Gee Rittenhouse, President of the GreenTouch consortium and Prof. Rod Tucker from the University of Melbourne. Dr. Gee Rittenhouse outlined the vision of GreenTouch. He outlined some ongoing projects in wireline and wireless networking that would help achieve this goal. Dr. Rod Tucker then delved into the details of why research in Green networking was absolutely essential. His analysis showed that while Telecom comprised about 2% of total energy consumption today, with the rapid growth in data traffic, this fraction could reach alarming proportions in a few years.

Further, on Day two there was a keynote talk by Prof. Vinod Sharma from IISc. Apart from these key notes, there were 21 technical talks from Academia and Industry comprising IISc, IIT Delhi, IIT Chennai, IIT Mumbai, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI), IBM Research, Microsoft Research and Bell Labs. The talks were divided into 6 sessions comprising Green IT, Green Access (2 sessions), Green Routers and Transport, Green Devices and Energy Harvested Networks.

The speakers from Bell Labs were Thierry Klein, Peter Vetter, Peter Winzer, David Neilson, Milind Budhikkot, Rouzbeh Razhavi and Vikram Srinivasan. They outlined various approaches by Bell Labs Researchers to tackle the 1000X goal ranging from small cells, dynamic spectrum access and cloud RAN on the wireless side, to bit-interleaved PON, quantum communications and spatial multiplexing and green routers and interconnects on the wireline side.

It was interesting to note that almost all the Academics from India were focused on the design of energy harvested networks. The key challenge in India is that cell sites do not have reliable access to the power grid and up to 70% of the operators OPEX is energy related. Prof. Jamadagni from IISc and a member of TRAI outlined the regulators proposals on making a significant fraction of base stations in rural and urban areas run on energy harvested sources by 2020. Prof. Jhunjunwala from IIT Chennai explored the optimal mix of energy sources (solar, battery and diesel generators) in order to minimize the operator’s OPEX. Prof. Vinod Sharma in his key note talk explored the fundamental information theoretic and queuing theoretic limits of communications in energy harvested scenarios. Other Indian Academics talked about the design of algorithms for communications in energy harvested scenarios, including using cooperative relays etc.

In addition to the technical talks, there was a Panel discussion on “The Innovation Opportunity and need for green telecommunications in India”. The Panel was moderated by Suresh Goyal, Head of Green Research in Bell Labs and included Gee Rittenhouse, Prof. Rod Tucker, Arun Seth (Chairman Alcatel-Lucent, India), Mrs. Shachi Devi ( CTO, Indus Towers), Harish Hande (Co-founder, SELCO, India, Magsaysay award winner), Prof. Ashok Jhunjhunwala, (Professor, IIT Chennai) and Srikantan Moorthy (Senior Vice President and Group Head, Education & Research, Infosys). The Panel discussion was extremely lively and spanned a broad range of topics from Green Telecom to sustainability. The lively debate highlighted some of the unique challenges faced in India from a sustainability and Green perspective.

On the whole, the workshop was well attended with around 150 participants spanning Academia and Industry. It helped build bridges between IISc, IIT Delhi and other Green Touch partners and several areas of potential collaboration have been identified.

More Info: Website url: https://sites.google.com/site/greenworkshops4/?s_cid=smm_tmc0304_bl

Pictures from the workshop: https://picasaweb.google.com/bell.labs.blog/GreenTelecomITWorkshopByIIScAndBellLabs?authuser=0&feat=directlink&_cid=smm_tmc0304_bl

IMS Provides Eco-Efficiency Choices, Creates New Revenue Opportunities

2012-02-07T13:56:39Z

By Erin Harrison

Two opposing forces are driving the need for more efficient use of energy – the increased use of mobile device coupled with the power needed to sustain their use are necessitating that the telecom industry step up its efforts to improve eco-efficiency overall.

Given the trend of increased demands of today’s mobile users – and the proliferation of new and different end-user applications and devices – an IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is a smart choice for service providers who are also looking for new revenue opportunities.

“Consumers are no longer content with a simple telephone; they want broadband and accessibility, wherever they are, on any device they choose. They want access to information, plus instant and reliable communications,” a recent whitepaper by Alcatel-Lucent (ALU), “Alcatel-Lucent IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS): Eco-efficiency Makes Economic Sense,” points out.

At the same time, while a “green” lifestyle may not drive demand for new communications services, it changes the way we live and work, and in many cases, reduces our environmental impact. According to Alcatel-Lucent, telecommunications can reduce the environmental impact of other industries as well, by changing the way people live and work.

Considering this “anywhere, anytime” phenomenon continues to grow rampantly, service providers need to work toward a solution that will benefit the earth, as well as their own bottom lines.

The amount of electricity needed to browse the Internet and talk on the phone in the U.S. alone shows that a new system is needed. According to the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA), data centers and telecom systems account for 3 percent of the U.S total electricity demand, and the proportion is growing rapidly.

Since the telecommunications industry uses so much electricity, the industry can make a positive impact on total energy consumption, not only by reducing its consumption through more efficient network infrastructure, but also by helping other industries to reduce their impact.

For example, Alcatel-Lucent IMS solutions help service providers reinvent communications across fixed, mobile and web, while paving the way for a smooth migration to all-IP networks with scalability and security.

“Technologies that can be enhanced with IMS (video conferencing, presence aware messaging, and anytime access) reduce or eliminate the need to travel to meetings or commute daily,” the whitepaper said.

The Alcatel-Lucent End-to-End IMS Solution helps operators offer multimedia communication services including voice, video, web, messaging and other conversational services using the most effective communications tools, whether it is their PC, TV, mobile phone, or home phones.

In fact, Alcatel-Lucent claims its IMS solution reduces the environmental and economic impact by over 90 percent, compared to a TDM-based solution. The service allows service providers to respond to the demands of today’s consumers, while also opening the door to new revenue streams.

As importantly it highlights Alcatel-Lucent’s commitment to ecosustainability as a vendor and as an enabler for its customers to be responsible stewards as well. As ALU CEO Ben Verwaayen says, “Corporate Responsibility is our business imperative. It defines our organization.”

Neo-Urbanizing India: Coming Full Circle at the End of a Journey

2012-01-17T19:01:22Z

By Erin Harrison

Hopefully, you have been an avid follower of the Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) Market & Consumer Insight (MCI) team’s recently concluded three-week India journey across urban and rural parts of the states of Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and the National Capital Region (NCR). As it came to a close, the group culled several important insights on neo-urbanization:

How it has been unfolding
The impact it is having
The role of information and communication technologies (ICT) as a driver

As seen through all of the posts from the team members, and the series of items I have described in previous blogs, neo-urbanization is modernizing many areas of the world that were previously without access to healthcare, education, employment – and technology. In particular, parts of India are becoming networked hubs that are oriented and planned around smart functionality and sustainability.

Based on preliminary findings, each of the three locations – Gujarat, Tamil Nadu and the NCR – represents different stages of neo-urbanization. However, combined, they have allowed the MCI group to capture neo-urbanization in most of its gradations, according to a the final blog post that summarizes highlights of the three-week journey.

NCR is an example of the impact of new and rapidly established industries on the local population, while Ahmedabad (Gujarat state) captured the optimism of being on the path towards a smart city of the future smart about to be created on the periphery of the city.

“Similarly, Coimbatore (Tamil Nadu) provided compelling examples of ICT-enabled development and governance – great models for other parts of the world, especially for those in emerging markets,” wrote Revital Marom, head of the Market and Consumer Insight (MCI) at Alcatel-Lucent.

For example, the group discovered that while ICT usage beyond voice is present only in “faint traces” with the computer entering urban homes, Internet accessibility in cyber cafes it is still perceived to be expensive.

Ultimately, the MCI team has determined a need for accessibility to government initiatives and schemes, which, powered by ICT-enabled solutions that ALU views as integral to its corporate responsibility, could really make a difference to the lives of those living there.

While the three areas the group traveled to have differences, they also share a common trait: a strong need for ICT-enabled development.

“This development will be critical in order to deal appropriately with the opportunities and implications of an increasingly neo-urbanized world,” Marom said.

The MCI group will share a final report and outcomes of this research. In the meantime, if you have any questions or comments about this project, Alcatel-Lucent invites you to email revital.marom@alcatel-lucent.com.

IP/MPLS-Based Networks Provide Unique Value for Smart Grid Initiatives

2012-01-09T17:09:27Z

By Beecher Tuttle

Skyrocketing energy demands and the push for greener, more sustainable energy solutions has helped bring smart grids to prominence, and has encourage a number of utilities to deploy a next-generation network alongside their electrical grid.

AltaLink, one of Canada's largest electricity transmission providers, is one of the utilities that is currently undergoing the complex, yet highly advantageous transition from a TDM architecture to a next-generation IP-based network.

In an effort to provide other utilities with a roadmap for the migration, Clinton Struth, principal engineer at AltaLink, and Dr. Marc Maurer, key account manager at Alcatel-Lucent (ALU) recently authored a TechZine article, IP/MPLS-based Networks for Mission-Critical Services, that details some of the benefits and challenges of embracing a smarter network.

AltaLink's initiative was born back in 2007, when the company made the decision to replace their ATM and TDM-based network with a next-generation, packet-based Wide Area Network (WAN). When looking at their options, the company felt that it had two reasonable choices; it could deploy an Internet Protocol/Multi-Protocol Label Switching (IP/MPLS) infrastructure or a next -generation Synchronous Digital Hierarchy/Synchronous Optical Network (SDH/SONET).

When looking at the SDH/SONET option, AltaLink found that it didn't offer as much value as they had hoped, other than its ability to extend the lifespan of the network itself.

IP/MPLS, on the other hand, provides a cost-effective, visually-oriented network management system that enables utilities to provision, manage and operate critical smart grid services as well as the ability to report on their statistics. Couple this with the solution's dynamic bandwidth allocation and the fact that most AltaLink services would likely transition to IP, and AltaLink made their choice.

After evaluating several vendors and completing a series of pilot tests, AltaLink selected its supplier, Alcatel Lucent, in January 2010 and began the rollout a year later.

Now about halfway through the migration, Struth and AltaLink believe the IP/MPLS infrastructure is highly capable of enabling the "better management of the transmission infrastructure to ensure more reliability, safety and cost efficiency."

Struth's confidence in IP/MPLS stems from the fact that the technology overcomes two common doubts:

Low latency
Cyber security

Some utilities have questioned whether IP/MPLS can meet the strict latency requirements necessary to run an electrical grid. Struth has found this concern to be inaccurate, noting that IP/MPLS has been used to deliver time-sensitive applications like backhauling of mobile data traffic for many years.

As noted in the posting, "IP/MPLS is sometimes and incorrectly still perceived as connection-less IP-technology that can provide very cost-efficient data transport but only with a 'best-effort' like quality of service (QoS)… This is the case for IP only however in contrast, the MPLS part of IP/MPLS makes the solution connection-oriented and capable of multiple guaranteed QoS levels."

As for cyber-security, AltaLink and ALU were able to implement a multi-tier security concept with multiple security layers and intrusion-detection check-points. This move, which adds full control plane protection, comprehensive password protection and several additional security layers, is enabling the company to align it network security with that of Tier-1 carriers.

"By successfully engineering the network to support critical applications such as SCADA and TPR, this next-generation network can not only replace existing TDM networks but is flexible enough for a smart grid future," the two authors add.

Struth and Maurer offered a few key takeaways from the migration that can help utilities that follow in AltaLink’s footsteps:

Personnel: With a drastically different network in place, employees will need significant technology and equipment training. Either that or operations of the network need to be outsourced. Utilities should plan accordingly.
Technology choices: Struth and Maurer stress that electric utilities should make their technology choice based on the current and future services that they will support. "A technology change for the sake of technology is often the wrong approach," they note. "Depending on the type and size of the utility, other technologies might be more suitable."
Strong partnering relationships: Essential for success.

While much of the attention of smart grid deployments has been on the benefits for consumers and electric utilities in terms of things like customer control and choice and utility efficiency and eco-sustainability, the next generation communications infrastructure to enable smart grid benefits to be fully realized is a critical piece of the story. And, as AltaLink’s example shows, IP/MPLS - based networks are a core part of ensuring utility communications infrastructures are up to the challenge.

Overcoming Smart Grid Challenges to Realize Key Benefits

2012-01-09T14:55:26Z

By Susan Campbell

The ever-increasing demand for energy has created the need for the development of the Smart Grid. This efficient approach to energy management and consumption will change the way we produce, consume and recycle energy. The efficient operation of the Smart Grid will be a long time in coming, however, as many challenges still exist to complete implementation and adoption.

According to a recent Alcatel-Lucent article, Dealing with the Smart Grid’s Key Drivers and Challenges, the future of smart grids includes significant changes to the way we live, work and play. It is expected to impact the business landscape, the energy marketplace and the ways in which we interact both culturally and socially.

In the future smart grids will also enhance control and convenience in the industrialized work, while also enabling positive social progress in developing nations. These benefits are expected to gain traction, but the speed and success will depend greatly on how skillfully energy providers today manage change.

The Smart Grid's challenges demand that we overcome the question of “will we thrive, or merely survive?” The Smart Grid can truly create significant change for both operators and consumers and how well players on both sides anticipate and prepare for those changes will determine the outcome.

One key area of change will be in cultural values. The Smart Grid’s key drivers have always been increased efficiency and reduced reliability on costly resources or offshore supplies. Traditionally, users thought little of their energy use, perhaps paying attention only to the number of lights on in the house or the temperature on the thermostat. In the new culture, we will be in control of how and how much and from where we consume energy.

The Smart Grid will extend beyond the walls of our homes and businesses, reaching out to transportation, communications and other key areas. Exciting and powerful new applications will allow us to fully manage all activities, determining our energy consumption and controlling just how much we rely on the grid itself.

The future of the Smart Grid includes electric vehicles and thousands of renewable generation sources that will add significant management complexity, while also assisting in the migration to peak demand issues, political instability and fluctuating energy prices. With the introduction of partnerships and coalitions, higher value will be extended to both energy operators and consumers.

All stakeholders understanding the opportunities in this space will benefit from the advanced technologies and regional regulatory environments as they create the perfect landscape for new high-potential business models. Those who can understand and effectively address the key drivers for success will benefit the most. The Smart Grid can help support these transformations as long as scalability, reliability and full inclusion for millions of consumers are included.

Ensuring the Future of the Smart Grid

2012-01-02T23:16:53Z

By Susan Campbell

Our growing reliance on energy has sparked a new focus on how to make consumption more efficient. The Smart Grid has emerged as an important focus in this space, projected to impact the business landscape, the energy marketplace and even the ways in which we interact.

According to a recent Alcatel-Lucent article, EPB Chattanooga: Customers at the Center of the Smart Grid’s Future, smart grids will also enhance convenience and control within the industrialized world while positive social progress is enabled in developing countries. The level of skill with which energy providers are able to manage change will determine when and how well the benefits of smart grid technology will gain traction.

Three things we know for certain regarding the potential in development and deployment of smart grids:

They will provide customers with unprecedented levels of control and convenience, while also ensuring communities have access to advanced communications services.
Customers will enjoy many if not most of the benefits as a result of a greater reliance on wireless technologies for access and as service enabler.
There will not be success until customer education and privacy concerns are seen as priorities for utilities going forward and properly addressed.

“These days we’re used to instant information, to quick response, and to having control over a lot more things in our homes and our lives, but that hasn’t been true for electricity, said Harold DePriest, President and CEO, Electric Power Board of Chattanooga (EPB), in the Alcatel-Lucent piece. “The Smart Grid is changing that reality, bringing electric systems into the 21st Century.”

EPB has been in the process of rolling out a gigabit passive optical fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) network for its entire service area. More than 170,000 customers and 90,000 smart meters have already been installed and connected to a smart grid. This roll out will easily become the model for future innovations as it is currently the fastest fiber-based smart grid in North America managing electrical usage information in real-time.

“Whether it’s providing advanced services or dealing with outages, we’re going to be able to do it quicker, with customers communicating interactively with the electric system through mobile devices and other platforms,” said DePriest. “It’s going to make us a more relevant and convenient part of people’s lives.”

While service providers and electric companies understand the value and importance of the smart grid’s future implementation, convincing customers they must pay more for a service they don’t quite understand will be an uphill battle. As such, utilities companies must create more value for the customers to ensure widespread support and adoption.

To accomplish this, utilities must be able to create more efficiency, better reliability and additional services. EPB has effectively demonstrated all three. In fact, according to the Electric Power Research Institute, EPB has created value for its customers to the tune of roughly $300 million over 10 years in the form of reduced outages, energy conversation and other efficiencies. To promote the adoption of smart grid technology, this is a powerful case study for success.

The Future Economy of the Smart Grid

2011-12-28T15:24:30Z

By Erin Harrison

With the world’s overall energy demand increasing by what seems to be the hour, deployment of smart grids presents new opportunities for utilities and service providers – but first they need to weigh all the factors involved in the future of smart grid.

According to the International Energy Agency (IEA), global energy demand is expected to rise by nearly 40 percent between now and 2035, as cited in a recent Alcatel-Lucent article, “Anticipating the Future’s Smart Grid Economy.”

Power utilities are indeed presented with new revenue opportunities, but they need to determine how they fit in to the future Smart Grid.

Years from now, the Smart Grid will change our lives: it will impact our business landscape, the energy marketplace and the ways in which we interact socially and culturally. In addition it will enhance control and convenience in the industrialized world while helping positive social progress in developing nations. When and how well these benefits gain traction will depend on how well energy providers manage change.

Citing the opinion of Ravi Krishnaswamy, vice president, Energy Practice, Frost & Sullivan, Alcatel-Lucent said the optimal smart grid value proposition depends on numerous factors related to regional needs, national priorities, technology development and regulatory environment.

“It’s not a one size fits all situation,” says Krishnaswamy. “Each utility will have to weigh these factors, then arrive at elements of Smart Grid that works for them.”

Renewable energy market will start taking a significant share of the power source in many countries. Krishnaswamy notes that smart grids are essential for utilities and nations that want to grow their renewable generation base, which itself is a key element in the equation for meeting future demand

Smart grid adoption will vary from community to community based on markets being served, regulatory environment and other factors.

As Alcatel-Lucent points out, smart grid technologies are changing business models for power providers in several ways, including deferred investment in expensive power plants, reduced maintenance and service costs, more efficient and reliable load management and that expected proliferation in potentially lucrative smart services using the smart grid’s communications infrastructure.

While much progress has been made with today’s smart grid, the smart grid of the future will impact our business landscape, the energy marketplace and the ways in which we interact socially and culturally.

The Social Impact of the Future Smart Grid

2011-12-20T20:11:23Z

By Erin Harrison

The smart grid’s largest social impact will be seen in developing nations, notes Christine Hertzog, managing director of the Smart Grid Library, in a posting “Managing Change for the Smart Grid.” Hertzog states that approximately 2.4 billion people of the world live in energy poverty – what she terms a “permanent blackout.”

In addition, the smart grid will enhance control and convenience in the industrialized world while allowing for social progress in developing nations, according to smart grid experts. When and how well these benefits gain traction will depend on how skillfully today’s energy providers manage change. 

“The technologies in smart grid can make a huge difference in delivering electricity to these people,” Herzog says. “Whereas we will see incremental improvements in our lives, for them this will be the difference between night and day.”

Applications such as micro grids – highly local, renewably produced electricity that has selected destinations, based on a communal decision such as powering a well, will be part of that change management for the smart grid, especially in developing nations.

Smart grid design is another area of change management that needs consideration. Smart grid designs should incorporate social and cultural behaviors and viewpoints in order to fully enable the benefits of the smart grid going forward, according to Hertzog.

She notes that while the underlying technology may be the same, how information is presented could have some very localized distinctions, therefore power utilities need to make sure that their interfaces are appropriate for all of those consumers.

With a shared system for existing and new services, energy draw can be managed and systems protected with a complete view of what is happening across the network - at every level.

Other social considerations include messaging to consumers, so that those reaping the benefits of the smart grid understand how far-reaching those positive implications can go.

According to Hertzog, social acceptance and satisfaction is dependent upon three categories of messaging to consumers, not just the environmental benefits, but also how a smart grid is capable of supporting electrified transportation, therefore improving a country’s energy security.

“That message needs to be more strongly communicated. This can help eliminate wars and massive environmental cleanups based on our continuing reliance on oil,” she says.

Another area consumers need to be aware of is the rewards and the risks that go along with new types of energy consumption data made available to them as well as utilities and third parties, Hertzog adds.

Finally, consumers also need to be made aware and secure in the new kinds of relationships between various companies that are being forged in the smart grid ecosystem – for example, where a company other than the main energy provider may own the consumer relationship.

For additional information about ALU's smart grid insights and initiatives, its GridTalk resource is a good place to bookmark.

Integrated Communications Addresses Smart Grid Challenges for Improving Energy Efficiency

2011-12-02T20:19:43Z

By Beecher Tuttle

Ever-increasing energy consumption, skyrocketing operating costs and pressure from regulatory bodies to help create a greener world have forced power utilities to reassess their delivery management methods.

The need for change – along with the recent influx of innovative network technologies – has led many utilities and distribution and system operators (TDSOs) to embrace the smart grid, a concept aimed at leveraging the power of next-generation networks to improve the efficiency and reliability of energy delivery and usage. The visibility and control provided by the smart grid enables utilities to match supply and demand, optimize delivery, cut operating costs and reduce carbon emissions.

In addition, a smart grid opens up a two-way communication system between utilities and customers, thus creating additional upsell opportunities and the ability for consumers to take a hands-on approach to energy conservation. Smart grid customers have access to their own webpage that details their energy consumption and the associated costs.

Deploying a smart energy grid is vital for utilities to thrive in the current environment, but it doesn't come without complications. TDSOs need to chose the appropriate technologies, understand their network requirements and make major decisions like if they should build their own communications infrastructure or lease it from a service provider.

Many of these questions can be answered by Alcatel-Lucent, whose Integrated Communications for Power Utilities solution is a proven way to take utilities into the 21st century of energy delivery and efficiency.

With its experience designing and deploying IP and LTE broadband wireless access networks, Alcatel-Lucent has a unique perspective on what is needed to get a smart grid initiative up and running.

In a recent white paper, Smart Choices for the Smart Grid, Alcatel researchers give TDSOs a window into some of the challenges that need to be addressed before implementing smart grid initiatives as well as what is necessary to accelerate their deployment.

Some of the insight provided in the article is strategically based, while other portions center on tactical decisions. For example, Alcatel stresses that application-specific, single-purpose networks like SCADA are simply too expensive and impractical to manage.

"A better, less costly strategy would be an integrated communications network supporting all applications, with proper implementation of quality of service (QoS), reliability, security and unified network management tools to ensure delivery of critical smart grid application traffic," according to the authors.

Alcatel also believes that smart grid-related network technologies should always be IP-based. This way, reliability, redundancy and availability are all but assured. In addition, IP-based network layer technologies allow utilities to tap into innovative telecom-related products and services.

"Legacy protocols can be carried through IP using a variety of methods such as tunneling via multiprotocol label switching (MPLS) — a proven technology deployed broadly in large enterprise and carrier networks and already being adopted by the utility industry," the authors add.

The white paper delves into the common TDSO concern over wireless spectrum, a necessary component that many utilities don't have access to, at least not enough to support video surveillance and other real-time smart grid applications.

Alcatel believes that the answer to this problem is public/private partnerships and FCC spectrum allocations. If TDSOs are able to have access to lower spectrum bands with between 3 and 5 Mb/s of wireless throughput per sector, smart grid adoption would surge.

With spectrum issues front and center with the FCC and smart grid deployment in the U.S. ramping up, it will be interesting the choices electric utilities makes to assure rapid and cost-effective implementations based on the criticality of integrated communications to the future of smart grids.

Enabling Power Suppliers to Make Transformation to Smart Grid

2011-11-22T16:21:19Z

By Erin Harrison

The super-efficient generation and transmission initiative known as the smart grid is giving electric utilities around the world new challenges and opportunities as they strive to meet increasing demand while deferring additional fossil energy generation projects.

Researchers at Alcatel-Lucent believe the best way for these power suppliers to find balance with new imperatives and consumer expectations is to push innovation deeper into the distribution networks. In an interesting piece, “Smart Grid: The world's leading utilities turn promise into reality,” market leaders explain how they benefit from innovations with the smart grid.

For instance, Kamal Ballout, global vice president for Alcatel-Lucent Energy Solutions Integration Division, explains the challenges power utilities face, which include efficiency, infrastructure and new regulations. He states that these include, “Making power delivery more efficient, upgrading aging infrastructure, meeting higher security expectations, dealing with stricter regulations, and efficiently integrating and managing renewable energy resources.” He added, that simultaneously consumers have higher expectations in terms of their desire for control and understanding of their energy usage, more reliability, power for electric vehicles, a way to deliver greener energy, and other concerns, he explained.

“This is the focus point for Alcatel-Lucent,” Ballout said. “As a company we see the best way for suppliers to find balance with consumer expectations and other imperatives is to push innovation deeper into the distribution networks.”

Alcatel-Lucent offers power suppliers an integrated communications solution as a smart grid enabler. It extends utility communication networks to provide visibility and control throughout both transmission and distribution grids. This aptly named transformation solution, which currently runs across 80 smart grid networks around the world, provides advanced applications to increase:

Grid reliability
Energy security
Asset efficiency
Support of renewable energy and electric vehicle (EV)

Ultimately, the smart grid is poised to provide consumers with better reliability, fewer outages, faster response times to issues, reduced cost and increased efficiency. It also will create a safer environment for growth thanks to the integration of renewable energy, reducing carbon emissions on a macro and micro level.