Utility companies responsible for providing electricity, water, gas and telecommunications services require a reliable system that enables them to perform operations with optimal efficiency to minimize interruptions that could be detrimental to critical public services. To do so, these organizations often rely on radio communications to deliver services to surrounding communities; however, often large geographical areas can run into challenges if the radio communications they use for both routine and emergency situations isn’t up to standard.

As the only electric power utility company in Mexico, Comision Federal de Electricidad (CFE) faced similar issues when it came to generating, transmitting and distributing power to the nearly 100 million customers throughout the country. That’s when the utility organization called on FreeWave Technologies, a manufacturer of spread spectrum and licensed radios for critical data transmission, for support in its smart grid project in Mexico.

Through the partnership, CFE has implemented FreeWave’s wireless data radio applications FGR2-PE, FGR115-RC and HTPlus wireless data radios in nine of the utility’s 16 divisions throughout Mexico. These applications will be utilized for tasks like power consumption and substation monitoring and control and monitoring of power networks.

"Before implementing FreeWave radios, CFE was experiencing difficulties due to distance and maintaining line of site in its communication networks," said Federico Ibarra Otero, engineer at Ampere, FreeWave's reseller partner in Mexico, in a press release. "There were some locations where the monitoring devices were remotely located and required repeaters. FreeWave offered a solution that tackled both the distance and line of sight issues and we have achieved more consistent, reliable and modern links since implementation."

FreeWave’s radios, which are specifically used for Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) applications for monitoring switch gears, reclosers and power meters, are expected to help the utility company achieve optimal communication in a wide range of Mexico’s geographical areas, especially where radio frequency noise and line of sight, and obstructions like skyscrapers and tree coverage, can heavily impact wireless communications. The FreeWave radio is also built to operate in a variety of weather conditions.

Additionally, customers have the ability to change from serial to Ethernet data communication without the hassle of replacing wireless communication hardware, thanks to a second, switched Ethernet port and two serial ports installed in the FGR2-PE. CFE officials also note that high-speed capabilities make the FreeWave HTPlus Ethernet radio ideal in harsh conditions and where there are noisy radio frequency conditions.

"We are very satisfied with FreeWave's Ethernet models, the FGR2-PE and HTPlus, as they let us manage serial and Ethernet devices at the same time," said Mario Granados Villareal, engineer at CFE. "This allows us to incorporate all the data coming from the radios to the LAN networks, which not only saves time, but allows our entire communications network to operate seamlessly."

Tammy Wolf is a TMCnet web editor. She covers a wide range of topics, including IP communications and information technology. To read more of her articles, please visit her columnist page.

Edited by Carrie Schmelkin