Cornerstone and Suez Partner on Smart Water Metering Project Using LPWAN Technology

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UK tower operator Cornerstone and French utility services group Suez have teamed up to deploy a water data collection system across 100 sites in the UK, leveraging the Wize LPWAN standard for smart meter connectivity.

Cornerstone, a leading UK mobile tower operator, has partnered with French utility network specialist Suez to implement a data collection, tracking, and transmission system for water meters across the United Kingdom. This collaboration utilizes Cornerstone’s extensive infrastructure to host a wireless technology designed to enhance water meter connectivity and monitoring.

The technology at the heart of the initiative is based on Wize, a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standard specifically developed for smart utility networks. It enables efficient communication for remote meter readings and monitoring while minimizing power consumption, which is ideal for widespread smart metering deployments.

Currently, the system is operational on approximately 100 Cornerstone sites nationwide, with around 180,000 water meters connected. The partners aim to scale this platform to reach one million connected meters, signaling a significant expansion in smart water metering across the country.

Cornerstone and Suez emphasize that the platform provides utility providers with access to detailed consumption data and other critical information. This data facilitates faster leak detection, better supply management, consumption pattern analysis, and improved customer service.

David Adams, Commercial Director at Suez UK, highlighted the benefits of using existing telecom infrastructures combined with Wize radio technology, stating that it offers exceptionally high connectivity performance for smart meter deployments without the need to build new infrastructure in public spaces or to install numerous repeaters or small cells on public assets.

As resource pressures continue in the UK, the partners believe scalable monitoring infrastructure like this will play an increasingly vital role in enabling utilities to optimize water use more effectively.

Cornerstone, formerly known as Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure, was established in 2012 through a joint venture by Vodafone and Telefónica subsidiaries in the UK. It operates around 16,500 towers. Vodafone Group transferred its stake to Vantage Towers in 2021, while Virgin Media O2, Telefónica’s joint venture, gradually reduced its shareholding in 2023 and 2024.

This project exemplifies how existing telecom infrastructure can be leveraged for smart utility solutions, contributing to more sustainable resource management.