Partners join Optus to deploy smart water meters in Toowoomba

Optus has mustered a team of partners to deploy 68,000 smart water meters in a major upgrade to Toowoomba Regional Council's water infrastructure. 

The telecommunications provider is to lead a consortium consisting of IOTA, ETS Electrical Services, GreenBe and M2M Telecom to develop the Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) solution. 

According to Optus, the deployment leverages  its own narrowband internet of things (NB-IoT) network, IOTA's blockchain-powered IoT devices, GreenBe's user experience platform and installation services from ETS Deployment Services. 

Residents can set water usage targets and monitor their water usage data through a web portal and app. Residents also receive early notifications of any leaks in the pipe network, reducing the chance of unexpected bills. 

Once completed, the smart meters will enable the council to manage the water network more efficiently and increase operational transparency, Optus claimed.

The announcement comes just months after Optus announced it would be undertaking a leadership restructure of its enterprise division that will make some roles redundant while creating new sales support positions.  

In 2022, the telco combined its Business, Enterprise, Satellite and Wholesale divisions into a single business unit named Optus Enterprise and Business. Later that year in October, Optus' former tower business, Australian Tower Network (ATN), rebranded to Indara Digital Infrastructure to usher in the next stage of the company.