geo is introducing a dual band version of the Touchbutton In-Home Display to support the industry’s rollout of smart meters to an increasing number of British homes.
To reach the market-wide objective of 85% coverage of smart meters by 2024, a more sophisticated Comms Hub is being introduced, using a HAN frequency of 868MHz along with the existing 2.4GHz frequency, enabling millions more British homes to benefit from smart metering.
To support this objective, geo’s Touchbutton In-Home Display & Pre-Payment Interface Device (IHD/PPMID) with Dual Band functionality will communicate with Dual Band Comms Hubs using the most effective frequency (2.4GHz or 868MHz) to improve communication reliability and range in homes where the single band HAN frequency is not sufficient.
The Touchbutton with Dual Band maintains the same benefits as the original Touchbutton, including:
Additional information
Please contact your geo account manager for more information and support in planning your smart metering rollout.
Background
A smart metering installation usually includes gas and electricity smart meters, an In-Home Display (IHD) and a Communications Hub (Comms Hub). These devices communicate with each other via a Home Area Network (HAN) which is generated by the Comms Hub.
The current Comms Hubs have a single band 2.4 GHz HAN frequency and are known as Single Band Comms Hubs (SBCH) and should provide HAN coverage in approximately 70% of premises. For some buildings like blocks of flats or where walls are very thick, the smart meter can’t communicate with the Comms Hub, so Dual Band Comms Hubs are being introduced, using a HAN frequency of 868MHz along with the existing 2.4GHz frequency, and are expected to increase coverage to 96.5% of premises – enabling millions more British homes to benefit from smart metering.
BEIS statistics indicate that there were 21.5m smart meters in homes & small businesses (17.3m in smart mode) at the end of March 2020, representing a penetration of 31% of all meters.
For more information, please visit this page on the DCC website and this document published by BEIS in December 2015.