Cornerstone and Suez Partner on Smart Water Metering Project Using UK Tower Network

Image: Illustrative image · Ian S  · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Source

UK tower operator Cornerstone and utility specialist Suez deploy IoT technology across 100 sites to monitor water usage and detect leaks with plans to connect one million meters.

UK-based telecommunications tower company Cornerstone has joined forces with utility sector specialist Suez to leverage Cornerstone's mobile infrastructure for a smart water metering project. The collaboration aims to collect, monitor, and transmit water meter data by deploying IoT technology hosted on Cornerstone’s estate of towers and sites.

The solution uses the Wize wireless protocol, a low-power wide-area network (LPWAN) standard specifically designed for smart utility networks. Currently, 100 Cornerstone sites across the UK are equipped with the technology, connecting around 180,000 water meters. Both companies plan to expand this to reach a target of one million connected meters.

By integrating telecom infrastructure with Wize radio technology, the partnership intends to provide utility providers with real-time access to consumption data and critical insights. This capability will enable providers to detect water leaks more quickly, optimize supply management, analyze usage patterns, and ultimately enhance customer service.

David Adams, Commercial Director at Suez UK, highlighted that this approach avoids the need to build new infrastructure in public spaces or install numerous repeaters and small cells, while still delivering high connectivity performance for smart metering deployments.

The collaboration reflects growing resource pressures in the UK, underscoring the importance of scalable monitoring infrastructure to help utilities manage water usage more efficiently and sustainably.

Cornerstone, formerly Cornerstone Telecommunications Infrastructure, is a leading UK tower company operating about 16,500 sites. Founded in 2012 as a joint venture between Vodafone and Telefonica’s local divisions, it has since seen Vodafone transfer its shares to Vantage Towers in 2021, and Telefonica's share reduced through sales by Virgin Media O2 in 2023 and 2024. The company's extensive infrastructure forms the backbone for this innovative utility monitoring initiative.

This partnership exemplifies how existing telecom infrastructure can be repurposed to support IoT deployments that address critical environmental and resource management challenges.