Setting the stage for smart grids

The smart grid market, evolving from advanced meter infrastructure, is experiencing a perfect storm of industry forces that combined make it one of the biggest opportunities for telecom service providers working with utilities and a host of other new and existing players. Contributing to the storm are regulatory issues, public policy, market dynamics, technology drivers, rising energy demands, climate change, increasing import dependence, aging infrastructure and higher energy prices, according to analyst firm BroadbandTrends. With so many drivers, the number of key stakeholders is also steep and ranges from regulators and standards bodies to equipment vendors and technology providers to systems integrators to consumers and, of course, network operators and the more than 2,000 US-based utilities ripe for partnership.