In what is said to be the largest IoT deal in Telstra’s history, the Australian telco will supply more than four million SIMs to local smart meter company Intellihub in a ten-year deal.

The telco recently secured energy licences in all the markets its applied for and is continuing work on getting ready for the anticipated launch of Telstra Energy. Under the agreement, Intellihub will provide advanced metering and data insights to Telstra Energy.

The high-speed Intelli-M smart meter and Intelli-ConX communications bridge will be deployed under the contract, capable of providing sub second, high speed measurements and enhanced connectivity for additional solar control and VPP style services.

Australian homes and businesses are continuing to install roof top solar at startling speed, and batteries, EVs and other small scale distributed energy resource systems are tipped to follow soon. This is driving new products and services from retailers such as Telstra Energy, requiring fast, secure and reliable smart metering.

Intellihub has a large and growing pipeline of smart meter deployments over the next decade, and this requires the processing of large volumes of near real-time smart metering data. To achieve this requires a scalable IoT-enabled offering. This can enhance service levels and add value by unlocking meter data insights.

The ten-year agreement will double the number of IoT devices running on the Telstra network. The deal can accommodate around four million connected devices and was constructed using a simple and scalable structure that allows for additional value-added services as Telstra and Intellihub continue to grow.

Energy systems across the world are rapidly transitioning to provide for increasing levels of renewable energy flowing in multiple directions between customers and the grid electricity. Much of this activity is happening behind the meter in customer premises with rooftop solar, batteries, electric vehicles and other demand response technologies. Soon, much of this distributed energy will be orchestrated via cloud-based virtual power plant (VPP) software.

For grid operators, access to energy data is crucial for visibility of network performance and helping maintain a safe and reliable service to their customers.

The smart meter sits between all these services and the electricity grid, transporting energy data so they can be processed, analysed and managed by electricity retailers and networks for the benefit of their customers.

This long-term agreement with Telstra provides Intellihub and its customers with a secure, cost effective and scalable data option. The agreement comes hot on the heels of Intellihub securing a Green Loan – the first in the world to meet the Climate Bonds Initiative’s (CBI) criteria for electrical grids and storage.

The Climate Bonds standard and certification scheme is an easy-to-use screening tool that provides a clear signal to investors and intermediaries on the climate integrity of certified climate bonds and loans. It will help fund its growing deployment of smart meters to homes and businesses across Australia and New Zealand.