Sprint Supports Utility Smart Grid Initiatives across America

Source: Sprint
On Tuesday August 11, 2009, 12:00 pm EDT

OVERLAND PARK, Kan.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--For many years, Sprint (NYSE:S - News) has been supplying embedded CDMA & iDEN based communication technologies for a variety of machine to machine (M2M) applications within the energy and water industries. Today, Sprint takes the lead again with innovative telecommunications products, competitive data services, secure IT solutions, and strong partnerships to support a wide range of utility automation initiatives in meeting the U.S. energy challenges of the 21st century. The importance of securing and strengthening our national electric grid was recently highlighted by the Energy Information and Security Act of 2007 and re-affirmed through the 2009 ARRA “Stimulus” funding opportunities offered by the Department of Energy under the Smart Grid Investment and Development Grant Programs. Sprint intends to play a key role as a telecommunications provider in helping to achieve this national objective.

“While our competition is just recognizing this space, Sprint has been supporting utility automation for years and most recently the Smart Grid ecosystem, as a key wireless and wireline provider,” says Paget Alves, President -- Business Markets Group, Sprint. “Sprint has been at the forefront of advanced telecommunications technologies, a strong proponent of interoperable communications, and provider of secure network connectivity and advanced IT solutions necessary for the operation of the electric Smart Grid today. As the wireless partner of choice for some of the largest utilities in the country, we continue to work with key industry partners to offer utilities innovative solutions to manage their critical communication infrastructure, deliver real-time data services and assist them in achieving optimal energy delivery and service quality.”

Sprint is now focused in supporting our electric customers with their Smart Grid initiatives, including key applications such as Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI), SCADA, Demand-Response (DR) Distribution Management System (DMS) and M2M applications. The underlying foundation of Smart Grid initiatives involves advanced communications, information technology, distributed sensing, and comprehensive data management overlayed to the electric grid to enhance reliability, optimize energy delivery, empower the consumer, and minimize the environmental impact of the industry.

As a commercial carrier operating multiple digital networks and delivering 2.5G, 3G, and now 4G mobile broadband services, Sprint is now playing a critical role in such utility initiatives. Additionally, through its Converged Network Services group, Sprint is able to design custom network solutions, extend coverage, and integrate complex network solutions to meet the demanding requirements of our customers for such mission critical applications.

“With the recent focus of President Obama and his team on energy independence and Smart Grid initiatives, Sprint has become even more engaged with electric utilities as well as government agencies, industry alliances and key technology partners in this space,” said Alves. “To help facilitate the extensive ecosystem of smart devices, enable key application providers and provide secure IP based communications solutions, Sprint also offers the most comprehensive Open Device Initiative of any carrier, with the sole focus of certifying wireless devices quickly at minimal costs to our partners and meeting the needs of our utility customers in this critical time of transition.”

Combined with the expertise of Sprint’s Business Markets Group team and a large portfolio of differentiated solutions powered by Sprint’s Now Network, Sprint is in a unique position to provide customized offerings for public and private utilities in the Smart Grid space. For more information on Sprint business solutions, visit http://www.sprint.com/business/ or contact your Sprint account team.

In addition to providing smart grid product and service offerings, Sprint has announced several industry leading environmental programs including:

Use of Hydrogen Fuel Cells: Sprint was recently awarded $7.3 million grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to expand its use of hydrogen fuel cells as back-up power to cell sites on their network. Currently Sprint has over 250 hydrogen fuel cells deployed at cell sites across their network.

Wireless Recycling: Sprint’s industry leading wireless reuse and recycling program were created to prevent thousands of tons of wireless equipment from entering the waste stream. Since 2001, Sprint has collected more than 17 million phones to help conserve resources, reduce greenhouse gas emissions and prevent air and water pollution. Sprint’s goal, an industry first, is to achieve a 90 percent recycling collection rate. This ambitious goal, set for 2017, translates to Sprint collecting nine phones for reuse and recycling for every 10 phones that we sell. Early results are promising: In 2008, Sprint’s wireless recycling collection rate stood at 34 percent, three times the national average.

Eco Friendly Products and Services: Sprint recently announced the availability of Samsung Reclaim™ on August 16th, the first phone in the U.S. constructed from eco-friendly bio-plastic materials. Made from 80 percent recyclable materials, Samsung Reclaim is a feature-rich messaging phone that offers environmentally conscious customers a perfect blend of responsibility without sacrificing the latest in network speeds and must-have features. Sprint is also the first major U.S. wireless carrier to offer a solar-powered cell phone charger and also offers cell phone carrying cases made from 100% recycled plastic water bottles. Sprint also offers a suite of enterprise location-based applications that can help businesses reduce their impact on climate change through more accurate management of fleets, cargo and assets.

Sprint’s green-themed website, www.sprint.com/green, details Sprint’s green mobile applications and helps customers learn about Sprint’s sustainability initiatives, including online bill pay, wireless recycling programs and acquiring green tips, such as using mobile GPS to calculate the quickest route to save gas. Customers can receive Sprint updates on specific company-wide environmentally-responsible initiatives on Twitter via @SprintGreenNews.

For more information about Sprint’s environmental initiatives visit http://www.sprint.com/responsibility/index.html.