Utility organizations all around the world trust Tait for expertise in developing their communications systems. The scalability of Tait solutions can overcome geographic challenges for utilities of all sizes, all over the world.
Historically, Tait has not limited the scope of utilities organizations we are able to assist. After more than 50 years in communications, Tait has provided systems for countless utilities organizations around the world no matter the size; addressing concerns surrounding topography and its impact on radio signal strength and network performance. Today we are looking at 4 different utilities in diverse locations.
A small sample of Tait Utilities clients. See more Client Stories.
Mason County Public Utility District, WA, USA
Public Utility Districts (PUD) are formed by rural communities to get electrical, water, sewer, and telecommunications services at cost, without profit. In Washington State, 24 PUDs are the source of electricity for almost 700,000 customers. Mason County PUD 3 supplies 34,000 customers around Shelton, Washington with electricity and fiber optic.
Pacific Electronics Inc. supplied a Tait Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) communications solution, integrated with console equipment from Essential Trading Systems Corp.
The communications network operates across 7 sites to cover their large operational area, utilizing Tait DMR Tier 3 trunking, TB9300 base stations, and mid-tier Dell network controller with a high availability feature for redundancy backup.
Ergon Energy Queensland Australia
Ergon Energy supplies electricity in Queensland, Australia with their service area covering 97% of the state’s geographical area – from the expanding coastal and rural population centers to the remote communities of outback Queensland and the Torres Strait. The electricity network consists of about 1 million power poles and nearly 100,000 miles of power lines with major substations, power transformers and various associated infrastructure.
Ergon wanted to enhance field worker connectivity, increase worker safety and improve efficiency in operational deployment. Following an intensive evaluation of the available digital radio technologies, a GPS enabled P25 trunked digital radio system was selected to deliver these objectives.
The initial rollout of 28 sites and 300 mobile radios is part of a larger state-wide strategy comprising 200-sites and more than 3,000 mobile radios, providing communications coverage for more than 102,703 square miles (266,000 square kilometers).
ENEL/ENDESA, Spain
The Enel Group (including Endesa organizations across Europe and Latin America), is made up of nearly 70,000 people from around the world whose work is based on core values of Responsibility, Innovation, Trust and Proactivity. ENEL’s portfolio of power stations is highly diversified including, hydroelectric, wind, geothermal, solar, thermoelectric, nuclear and other renewable sources of power.
Due to the variety of regulatory environments in which Enel operates, their communications solution needs to operate within existing 12.5khz frequency allocations in the VHF and UHF bands, depending on the country of use. The solution also needs to be scalable from 1 or 2 sites to over 150 sites due to the varying demands of Distribution companies within the group. Tait proposed DMR Tier 3, a market-leading, open standards based 12.5khz communications solution, which can operate in a wide range of globally applicable VHF and UHF frequencies.
After a robust and extensive evaluation, Enel enabled their Distribution Companies in Spain Peru, Colombia, Brazil and Chile to take advantage of Tait GridLink. Deployment throughout the Enel Group has been ongoing since 2014. At the time of writing, over 10,000 GridLink terminals have been deployed supported by 300 radio sites in five countries, with an additional 5,000 GridLink terminals to be ordered. The DMR tier 3 will further enhance the productivity and safety of field personnel, especially lone workers.
EA Networks, New Zealand
EA Networks is a locally owned co-operative network company based in the Mid Canterbury region of New Zealand’s South Island. EA Networks owns and operates the area’s electricity sub-transmission and distribution network, delivering power to 20,000 customers via 3,200 kilometers (1,990 miles) of distribution lines.
EA Networks focuses on delivering safe and reliable electricity and fiber network infrastructures that support their community and the local economy. Worker safety is crucial at EA Networks. Electricity linesmen must be able to communicate with each other when restoring service after a storm, making routine repairs, or deploying new services. The ability to respond quickly to incidents is very important to EA Networks, because when there’s an electricity or communications outage, customers expect a speedy resolution.
To ensure smooth operations and enhance worker safety, EA Networks operates a six-site DMR Tier 3 trunked network, using Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) services to boost visibility of their mobile workforce. Tait also provides monthly reports on the Service Level Agreement (SLA) performance of EA Networks’ radio infrastructure. Network performance, operational issues, and opportunities for continual improvement are discussed with EA Networks at regular review meetings.
In addition to network monitoring and reporting, a Tait Client Support Engineer is available to provide technical consultancy services to EA Networks. Radio infrastructure monitoring by the Tait SMC enables EA Networks to respond proactively to minimize any interruptions to system availability ahead of time.
Tait Utilities Clients Span the Globe
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