Utility software vendor SPL WorldGroup and fixed network data communications provider Cellnet Technology, Inc. have announced a partnership aimed at providing utility clients with an end-to-end solution for advanced metering.

"Cellnet enables the reality of advanced infrastructure by bringing utility customers the best available technology for data communications systems and automation solutions," said Mak Tarnoff, Cellnet's director of product marketing. "Such networks also provide two-way communication between utility and customer to measure and communicate consumption, to turn meters on and off, to check for outages and voltage problems, and to gather data to make electrical and pipeline grids work more efficiently."

"To extract full value from advanced metering data," explained Guerry Waters, SPL's senior. vice president -- strategic utility management, "utilities need to integrate it efficiently to a variety of software applications. That's where SPL comes in, with solutions like Customer Care and Billing, Meter Data Management, Outage Management, and Mobile Workforce Management. Using cross-departmental business processes that utilities themselves design and control, these applications work together to ensure accurate billing, foster development of new products, and significantly increase system reliability and improved customer service."

Under the terms of the non-exclusive partnership, SPL and Cellnet will, as appropriate:

* Provide standard integration between their products. SPL is building  integration to Cellnet's standard APIs using Cellnet web services and  batch interfaces and participating in Cellnet's certification program. 

* Participate jointly in conferences and, individually, demonstrate each  other's products to customers and prospects. 

* Jointly respond to requests for information and requests for proposals  (RFI / RFPs).

Patti Harper-Slaboszewicz, director of AMI and MDM of UtiliPoint International, Inc. said, "To realize the vision of consumers responding to changing energy prices, utilities need cost-effective end-to-end advanced metering solutions such as the one SPL and Cellnet are pioneering. Consumers have accepted time-based pricing as a reasonable approach but expect to be able to program their A/C and other appliances to respond to energy price movement automatically. Most consumers do not have the time to follow energy prices on an hourly or even daily basis. Utilities that provide the framework for automatic response to price movement can expect to see greater and longer- lasting price response than utilities that provide time-based pricing without the automation framework."