The FINANCIAL — Motorola Solutions has signed a “managed services” agreement with the German power grid operator EWR Netz GmbH. The comprehensive agreement will provide reliable and high performance communications for the biggest distributor of electricity, gas and water in the region of Rhine-Hessen.
As part of the agreement, Motorola Solutions will install, run and maintain the radio network, provide technical support and provide hardware and software updates during a five-year period, according to Motorola.
It is Motorola Solutions’ largest contract with a utility company in Europe or Africa.
EWR Netz GmbH will rely on a consistent and robust “service level agreement” with transparent fixed operating costs, eliminating the need to manage network complexity, hardware and software upgrades. Motorola Solutions will also conduct a refresh of the existing operator infrastructure with the latest hardware and software update of its Dimetra IP Compact platform.
“With the TETRA Dimetra IP Compact system we offer our customers future-oriented new services such as smart metering. Signing the managed services contract was very crucial for us to ensure that our mission-critical systems are always available. We do not have to worry about complexity and system upgrades anymore,” said Johannes Krämer, CEO of EWR Netz GmbH.
“Mission-critical infrastructures require highly specialized service to guarantee a secure and reliable operation. By choosing our managed services offering, EWR Netz GmbH again demonstrates that we are a trusted partner in the utilities sector,” said Klaus Dieter Drossel, sales director key accounts, Motorola Solutions Germany GmbH. “With our TETRA infrastructure solutions we enable energy providers to offer optimized services to their customers at any time.
SUPPORTING FACTS
EWR Netz GmbH has been successfully using Motorola Solutions’ TETRA infrastructure since 2007 to provide a secure and independent communication platform for its employees. The TETRA digital two-way radio system is based on a Dimetra IP Compact platform with 37 antenna sites, Dimetra IP switches and MTP850 TETRA terminals. Through Motorola Solutions, their TETRA infrastructure has been expanded to a smart metering solution with a potential smart grid application in the future.
The managed services offering from Motorola Solutions covers infrastructure repair, remote technical support, planned maintenance, regular system updates and field service on call:
Infrastructure repair includes hardware repair or exchange for all Motorola Solutions and third party devices provided by highly skilled experts in Motorola Solutions’ EMEA Systems Support Centre in Berlin, Germany.
Remote technical support: EWR Netz GmbH can rely on a 24/7 remote technical support service for ensuring highly available systems.
Planned maintenance: With the preventive maintenance, Motorola Solutions checks infrastructure components before any disruptions can occur and enables an optimized system operation.
System update agreement: As part of the service update agreement, Motorola Solutions will also implement a refresh of the existing operator infrastructure with latest hardware and software updates of Dimetra TETRA Release 8.0 platform within the five-year contract.
This will further enhance the performance and operation of the system through all technology components, and secures the investment of the system, allowing it to be extended to the next generation of TETRA and broadband systems.
Field service on call: Experienced technical engineers support the EWR Netz GmbH on site if issues occur within the communications infrastructure.
Motorola Solutions has longstanding expertise in designing and implementing TETRA communications systems for utilities, including RheinEnergie and Vattenfall.
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