Johannesburg, 22 Mar 2017
Better demand-side management and smarter distribution networks could slash the cost of power provision and help the public sector move towards its goal of delivering universal power access, says MTN Business.
"The African power problem is a multi-faceted and complex issue, involving everything from generation through to distribution and revenue collection," says Melao Mashale, Senior Manager: IOT solutions at MTN Business. "But it's clear that curbing both technical and non-technical losses, which are estimated to total over R8 billion a year, can contribute significantly to power sector expansion and upgrade programmes. To do so, smart grid systems must be put in place to give utilities, metros and municipalities transparency and control over the entire ecosystem."
"Internet of Things (IOT)-based systems, including smart meters, can help address meter tampering, illegal connections, incorrect billing and flawed revenue collection procedures. Possibly more importantly, they enable accurate network monitoring and demand side control," he says.
MTN notes that the advent of IOT is giving unprecedented insight and control into the public sector. By rolling out IOT sensors and smart meters across power, water, transport systems and more, public sector organisations are for the first time able to track, automate and control these systems in real time, reducing costs, enhancing efficiencies and improving service delivery, with the added benefit of improved demand and performance projection capabilities. Globally, public sector organisations are becoming key IOT adopters to control costs and improve service delivery. According to IDC, the worldwide Internet of things market is expected to top $1.5 trillion by 2020. Public sector is likely to contribute significantly to this figure.
MTN's new Pan-African IOT platform, which was officially launched last year, is designed to support IOT and machine to machine (M2M) systems across the continent. The platform, designed to support a vast IOT ecosystem, with application and management layers, is built on top of MTN's existing MPLS networks, capable of supporting massive numbers of IOT endpoints. "MTN has positioned itself as the core of South Africa's evolving IOT environment, so that both public and private sector can build these new ecosystems on the back of our advanced, extensive and reliable pan-African infrastructure," says Mashale.
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