Huawei and Aichi Tokei Denki Co.,Ltd will jointly carry out NB-IoT based water meter reading technology verification. Narrow Band IoT (NB-IoT) is a kind of IoT-oriented Low-Power Wide-Area Network (LPWA). In Japan, requirements for more efficient water operations are put forward, through the so-called next generation LPWA communication technology NB-IoT, it can not only realize automatic meter reading, but also improve customer service quality by visualization of water consumption, as well as strengthen the management of water pipe network and support the sustainable development of water business.
On the Takamatsu Water Expo 2017 which is sponsored by the Japan Water Industry Association, Huawei Japan and Aichi Tokei Denki jointly displayed the NB-IoT based and seismic sensor-equipped optical pickup water meter, and demonstrated the remote automatic meter reading of water data through Huawei SoftRadio (NB-IoT business development tools and simulator) and OceanConnect IoT platform, which provides solutions for understanding the water pipe situation when earthquakes happen.
By the spring of 2018, the two enterprises will continue to carry out automatic meter reading technology verification of NB-IoT, and explore overseas business development from Japan.
Kawakami Tomohiro, the Chief of Strategy Planning Office of Aichi Tokei Denki Co.,Ltd, commented on the joint technology verification: "due to the communication reliability, cost, complexity of the maintenance and other reasons, automatic water meter reading technology was not promoted in Japan. Automatic meter reading using LPWA has become popular in some overseas countries. When researching on the LPWA tests, we noticed the in-depth coverage NB-IoT technology that Huawei provides for underground water meter communication, then we started joint laboratory technology verification with Huawei. In the future, we will conduct verifications in the practical applications and provide products and services that meet the customers' demand by NB-IoT technology."
The deputy Marketing & Solution Sales Executive of Huawei Japan Wang Jun said: "Huawei's innovation is always centered around the demands of our customers. In the cooperation with the largest water meter company Aichi Tokei Denki in Japan, I believe we can develop solutions that meet the national conditions of Japan. In September, Huawei set up NB-IoT open laboratory in Tokyo, in the future, we will continue to support the communication operators and provide NB-IoT solutions for industry leaders, and make contributions to the sustained growth of their business".