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British Gas to use ‘smart meters’

Your Money
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Your Money
Posted:
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31/03/2010

In a bid to help UK households manage their gas supplies, British Gas will team up with Vodafone UK to supply British households with ’smart meters’.
The move, which will see all customers of British Gas using ’smart meters’ by the end of 2012, aims at making gas monitoring a bit easier for consumers and the gas company.
Each smart meter is equipped with a mobile GPS connection which allows energy use data to be sent directly to British Gas. The move will allow the gas firm to take readings from each household electronically, as well as make it easier for homeowners to monitor their own gas use.
Vodafone UK will partner with British Gas to offer the mobile connection for all meters once installed. The GPS connection will allow British Gas to monitor and record gas usage in homes in real time.
Last year, research shows that 2.4 per cent of total mobile phone connections across Europe were being manipulated by machines as opposed to people. Wireless machine-to-machine communications across the planet have jumped from figures of around €3 billion back in 2008 to an estimated €8.9 billion by 2012.
As the push towards digital monitoring becomes more imminent, mobile communications controlled by machines will continue to become popular. The move by British Gas could help cut-down on emissions and allow homeowners to access, in real-time, their own gas usage, allowing them to make more efficient use of their utilities.


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