Freestyle looks for slice of $1.8bn Taiwan smart meter project

By Staff Writers on Jul 18 2018

Australian IoT firm Freestyle Technology is running technology proof-of-concepts with major Taiwanese gas companies in the hope of winning a slice of a $1.8 billion meter replacement project.

The company said it had met with Chungwa Telecom (CHT) and the top 25 gas companies in the country on July 5.

“This comes off the back of a Taiwanese Government mandate that all gas usage is to be monitored by smart meters by 2021,” it said.

“While each gas provider will contract to achieve this, the total replacement value of the current mechanical readers is worth an estimated 9 Billion Yuan, or A$1.8 billion.”

Freestyle said that following the meeting, it had been invited to conduct proof of concepts “with the major Taiwanese natural gas providers”.

The company has an existing relationship with CHT that has seen over 150 buildings and 10,000 apartments and homes kitted out with smart meter technology last year.

“There is scope to expand the cooperation with CHT to cover water, smart building and other IoT initiatives in the country,” Freestyle said.

CHT is running a series of smart city trials with the Taiwanese government over narrowband IoT networks.

Smart meter technology has a number of advantages over standard equipment, including safety features such as earthquake, air leakage and timeout interruption. This could prevent gas explosions following earthquakes.

Source:https://www.iothub.com.au/news/freestyle-looks-for-slice-of-18bn-taiwan-smart-meter-project-498546