Smart meter company Trilliant said it acquired WiFi infrastructure provider SkyPilot Network to help it compete in the smart grid market. Trilliant said the acquisition will be a complement to its shorter-range "SecureMesh" technology, which is based on Zigbee, to link meter collection points. SkyPilot has developed a longer range mesh WiFi technology that can propagate up to 10 miles or more.
According to Eric Miller, Trilliant's chief solutions officer, the combination of the two technologies have already been integrated in a project with municipal utility Milton Hydro in Ontario, Canada as well as another unnamed utility. Interestingly, a number of players have been coalescing around several technologies--fiber, cellular, satellite and WiMAX.
Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.
For more:
- check out Greentech Media [1]
Related articles:
Smart grids [2]: The next wireless goldmine?
Verizon's Seidenberg: 500 percent penetration achievable [3]
Links:
[1] http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/trilliant-buys-skypilot-for-end-to-end-smart-grid-communications/
[2] http://www.fiercebroadbandwireless.com/story/smart-grids-next-wireless-goldmine/2009-05-15
[3] http://www.fiercewireless.com/ctialive/story/verizons-seidenberg-500-percent-penetration-achievable/2009-04-01