MegaFon to help Gazprom to roll out smart meters nationwide

MOSCOW. June 11 (Interfax) - MegaFon , one of Russia's leading mobile service providers, will offer technical solutions for Gazprom Mezhregiongaz LLC to digitalize gas supplies and roll out telemetry and smart meter systems throughout the country.

An agreement to start working in this direction was reached following a meeting between MegaFon CEO Khachatur Pombukhchan and Gazprom Mezhregiongaz CEO Sergei Gustov at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum, the gas company reported. The meeting was also attended by Gazprom deputy CEO in charge of digitalization Sergei Kupriyanov.

Gazprom Mezhregiongaz is working out measures for the full-scale rollout of telemetry systems for remote monitoring and transmission of gas meter readings, including with the implementation of a project to install smart meters nationwide. An integral part of the project is remote transmission of information from the devices to data processing centers with the help of the telecom provider.

The companies agreed to jointly explore Internet of Things (IoT) solutions that will make it possible to precisely keep track of gas consumption and remotely monitor facilities.

MegaFon will also work out a draft national rate with provision of information security for all types of data transmission devices used by Gazprom Mezhregiongaz in its operations. The project is expected to give the company maximum possible access to mobile services in virtually all regions of Russia.

The companies are also cooperating on the implementation of a pilot project in Vologda Region that involved the installation of more than 300 smart gas meters. The project is being financed by Gazprom Mezhregiongaz and MegaFon is providing the mobile services for transmitting the meter readings.

It was reported earlier that mobile virtual network operator Gazprom Telecom LLC rolled out services on MegaFon's infrastructure.