Remote metering of energy consumption is a hallmark of Smart Cities. Nova Veolia, a global optimized resource management company and its IoT subsidiary Birdz, recently selected digital solutions provider Orange Business Services, to assist the digitalization of Veolia’s water-related services in France. By 2027, Nova Veolia plans to read more than 70% of their meters remotely.
According to their press release, more than 3 million water meters will be connected to Orange’s industry-standard LoRa® network in France over the next decade, following a successful 12-month trial period in Toulouse. Over 30,000 municipalities and 95% of the population of Metropolitan France are within Orange’s low-frequency radio network for connected objects.
This partnership will enable Birdz to focus on its core business and develop new services. The subsidiary currently collects millions of data points daily via its intelligent water meters. By making this information more accessible, Birdz’s solutions help customers understand and predict their consumption as well as spot potential issues such as water leaks and fraud.
Frédéric Van Heems, CEO of Veolia Water France, stated: “This project with Orange Business Services illustrates Veolia’s goal to digitalize our businesses and services. It is a true growth driver that will allow us to optimize our methods and performance, and also to propose new services to our customers, in line with their expectations for efficiency, interoperability, and transparency.”
“Already a leader in France, our goal is to become the IoT leader in Europe, and more broadly, to strengthen our position as an operator-integrator worldwide.”
Xavier Mathieu, CEO of Birdz, added: “Birdz has chosen Orange Business Services to help it make a strategic shift from a technology requiring deployment of a radio network infrastructure to a solution that is open, interoperable and reversible and also a solution which meets the needs of our customers.”
Helmut Reisinger, CEO of Orange Business Services, emphasized: “We are proud to help Veolia and Birdz with this major project. Orange Business Services provides many companies with support on projects regarding IoT, data collection, transport, storage, and analysis, guaranteeing a high level of security. Our multi-technology strategy, which includes LoRa®, 2G/3G/4G, and LTE-M, allows us to meet each sector’s specific needs. Already a leader in France, our goal is to become the IoT leader in Europe, and more broadly, to strengthen our position as an operator-integrator worldwide.”
