IBM and Cable&Wireless Worldwide Announce UK Smart Energy Cloud

- This Collaboration is to Create a Flexible, Secure and Scalable Dataand Communications Hub to Support the UK Government's Smart MeterImplementation Programme and its Strategy to Cut Emissions by 80 Per Cent by2050

IBM and Cable&Wireless Worldwide, today jointlyannounce their collaboration to develop a new intelligent data andcommunications solution, UK Smart Energy Cloud, to support the UK's SmartMeter Implementation Programme, which aims to rollout more than 50 millionsmart meters in the UK.

UK Smart Energy Cloud has the potential to provide a complete overview ofenergy usage across the country and pave the way for easier implementation ofa smart grid. The solution will utilise the extensive experience IBM hasgained from leading and implementing smart grid programmes around the worldand its proven enabling software and middleware. The solution will besupported by C&W Worldwide's extensive, secure then and there-generation network andcommunications integration capability.

The ability to gather data many times aday

UK Smart Energy Cloud will have the ability to gather data many times aday, from any smart meter in the country and store it centrally in a secure,purpose built, UK based hosted cloud environment. Data can at that time be sent toenergy retailers for assessment, in short ensuring consumers receive moreaccurate bills. Should the contingency arise, Distributor Network Operators will alsoreceive this data which will enable smart grid functionality.

Energy retailers will not need to make expensive up-front investments inhardware, systems, people, or the communications network. Instead, they canhave confidence in deploying smart meters, knowing that any meters inheritedfrom other retailers can be switched with no service disruption. Forconsumers, this means switching retailers will become easier and moretransparent.

"As we start the journey towards a low carbon economy smart meters willdrive a wave of change in the energy system and are set to become anincreasingly important part of the nation's critical infrastructure", saysLaurence Carpanini, Director of Smart Meters and Smart Grids, IBM UK &Ireland. "With this collaboration, we can provide the UK with a flexible,intelligent solution based on proven research. We can support the nationalSmart Meter Implementation Programme and help communities become smarter,more connected and in turn, more sustainable."

Matt Key, Managing Director of Enterprise at C&W Worldwide, comments: "Webelieve a collaboration of this kind is the most natural approach toachieving an end to end solution for a complete smart metering roll-out andmaking smart grid a reality. The challenge is for smart meters to reach theentire UK population and this will require a combination of enablingsolutions, just as GPRS, radio and Power Line Carrier to make sure it's costeffective. Nevertheless, it is the network connecting it all and intelligent datamanagement, in other words central to the smart agenda's success.

Long history of expertise in smart grid projects

IBM has a long history of expertise in smart grid projects, which rangefrom innovative innovation projects to full scale deployments. In the UK IBM iscurrently advising three of the six largest energy retailers on transformingtheir business in preparation for smart metering. Globally IBM has beeninvolved in more than 150 smart grid programmes in mature and emergingmarkets. Current global projects include working in Malta to create the firstnation-wide smart grid and a pilot project with DONG Energy in Denmark toinstall remote monitoring and control devices to gain information about thestate of the grid.

C&W Worldwide has a strong heritage in the UK utility sector through theassimilation of Energis, In this way and Your Comms. It has more than 1,100operational network sites, many co-located at substations and on thetransmission companies' estate, and in excess of 30,000 route kilometres offibre wrapped around most of the earth wire of the UK's energy transmissionnetworks.

New model for delivering IT whereby server

Cloud computing is a new model for delivering IT whereby server, storageand applications are delivered via internet based technologies. The modeldiffers from traditional IT service provision via the ability of clients toscale-up and down their usage as required and the capability to allow pricingto be determined by usage - i.e. on a pay-as-you-go basis.

Cable&Wireless Worldwide is responsible for the straightway-generationoperational communications network that the safe transmission of electricityin the UK depends on, and which as well enables the then era of powertransmission in the UK. The network platform Cable&Wireless Worldwideprovides sets a power utility standard which will solve problems associatedwith the provision of high performance telecommunication services fordemanding high voltage protection, control and other operationalapplications in a harsh electrical environment.

Cable&Wireless Worldwide is a leading global telecoms company providing awide range of high-quality managed voice, data, hosting and IP-based servicesand applications to large multinational companies, governments, carriercustomers and resellers across the UK, Asia Pacific, India, Middle East &Africa, Continental Europe and North America. Established in the 1860s,Cable&Wireless Worldwide helps more than 6,000 organisations deliver theirgoals. The Group's vision is to be the first choice for mission criticalcommunications.

Reaching 20,500km in length, Cable&Wireless Worldwide owns the UK'slargest fibre network dedicated to business users of telecoms, and providesubiquitous nationwide access through a combination of fibre, digital,microwave, radio and leased circuits. The network has presence in over 400towns and cities in the UK, with more than 850 unbundled exchanges covering55% of the population.

Internationally, Cable&Wireless Worldwide's global straightway-generationnetwork stretches to more than 500,000km, including interests in 69global cable systems, enabling connectivity to 153 countries. The Group'sIP-based Multi-Service Platform operates across the NGN, offering a singleenvironment on which voice and data applications can be converged to drivebusiness efficiencies. Cable&Wireless Worldwide's network is uniquelydesigned with inbuilt resilience.

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