Elster to Showcase Next Generation Smart Metering Solutions at E-World 2011 in Germany

ESSEN, Germany, Feb. 7, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- Elster (NYSE: ELT) announced today that it will showcase one of its latest smart electricity meters, the AS300, and its new Rapid Deployment Solution (RDS) at E-World 2011 in Essen, Germany from February 8 through 10.

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E-World is one of the key events in Europe for the energy and water industries and features discussions on the Smart Grid and effective management of water and energy.

The AS300 forms an integral part of Elster's advanced metering infrastructure solution and offers utilities the ability to manage data from smart electricity, gas and water meters. With a comprehensive array of interchangeable features and functions, Elster plans to market specific variations of the AS300 that meet the individual requirements for each customer it serves.

The AS300 offers a modular solution for wide area network (WAN)/local area network (LAN) and home area network (HAN) communication infrastructures. This modular design allows utilities the flexibility to quickly and easily exchange communications technologies throughout the life of the meter to protect their investment as technology and regulatory requirements evolve.  

Elster offers a range of communication protocols to match market requirements, including GSM/GPRS, PLC, RF for WAN/LAN communications and M-Bus (wired or wireless), Wavenis and ZigBee for HAN communications. The AS300 can be easily integrated with meter data management (MDM) and head end applications. Its range of communications solutions ensures secure and reliable two-way communication to the metering devices.

The AS300 complies with the latest industry standards for data privacy and security and provides customers with additional proprietary technology to protect against fraud and tampering. The meter has been designed to fulfill multi-utility requirements and offers selectable and definable power quality monitoring and instrumentation profiling. With these comprehensive features, utilities and network operators can gain a detailed understanding of their network and apply this information to optimize performance.

Designed with a modern aesthetic for interior residential deployments, which are common across Europe, the AS300 will initially be marketed to European utilities as they work to comply with the EU's 2009/28/EC directive to install Smart Meters in 80 percent of homes by 2020.

The Elster RDS, aimed initially at the European market, will be presented for the first time at E-World 2011. It enables rapid deployment of a complete solution, from metering all the way through to meter data management. This scalable solution can allow deployment of a relatively small number of points, from one thousand to several hundred thousand. Utilities of different sizes can use Elster's new RDS to more quickly and efficiently plan and deploy cost-effective Smart Metering networks. Elster plans to roll this solution out to additional markets in the near future.

About Elster

Elster (NYSE: ELT) is one of the world's largest electricity, gas and water measurement and control providers. Its offerings include distribution monitoring and control, advanced smart metering, demand response, networking and software solutions, and numerous related communications and services – key components for enabling consumer choice, operational efficiency and conservation. Its products and solutions are widely used by utilities in the traditional and emerging Smart Grid markets.

Elster has one of the most extensive installed revenue measurement bases in the world, with more than 200 million metering devices deployed over the course of the last 10 years. It sells its products and services in more than 130 countries across electricity, gas, water and multi-utility applications for residential, commercial and industrial, and transmission and distribution applications.

For more information about Elster, please visit www.elster.com.

SOURCE Elster