Category: News

EUTC participated in the 3rd virtual PNDC workshop on Smart Grid communications and cyber security on 25 July 2023. Julian Stafford, Secretary General of EUTC, joined the event and shared insights on EUTC’s journey towards the standardisation of technologies in Europe for the sake of communications and smart grid transition.

If interested in exploring these topics, watch the complete conference and access the presentation.

The event attracted over 7000 attendees, and although mainly from the Public Safety community, utilities have an increasingly presence there.  Much discussion took place with public safety telecommunications specialists to explore commonalities in the challenges we all face.  There was also the opportunity to meet with local regulators and representatives of Erillisverkot which operates the Vivre telecoms network serving all mission critical users in Finland including utilities.  A unique feature of this event is the strong participation by the Asia Pacific and Australasia regions, providing valuable opportunities to explore synergies with them, especially Chinese Power Companies.

The event brings together a large number of participants in the 3GPP standardisation process where initiatives of common interest to mission critical telecoms users can be explored and pursued.  The opportunity of a large face-to-face event was also used to host a hybrid meeting of the EUTC Regulation, Standards & Spectrum Group.

Recent months have seen a flurry of consultations from European Bodies and national administrations.  EUTC does not have the resources to respond to every potentially relevant consultation, so it focuses on those European ones with potentially the greatest impact on EUTC members, plus consultations by national administration either where requested by a member, or where the impact of a decision by one member state is likely to influence overall European thinking.

EUTC is seeking to build relationships within the European Commission, especially DG Energy, DG Connect and DG Grow which are seen as having the greatest relevance to EUTC, together with the European Parliament and Research Programmes.  EUTC responses to consultations are contained on the EUTC website so that members and other interested parties can understand our perspectives.

Perhaps the most important initiatives currently are those being undertaken by the Radio Spectrum Policy Group (RSPG) on the relevance of Spectrum Policy to reducing carbon emissions and sustainability, and the importance of radio spectrum policy in combating the effects of climate change; plus their focus on future telecoms technologies.

Another recent development is a review of the effectiveness of the 2012 Radio Spectrum Policy Programme (RSPP).  Although many aspects of the policy programme have progressed, from a utility perspective, there has been little progress on the provisions in the original RSPP to address the spectrum needs of smart metering and smart grids, a situation EUTC is stiving to bring to the attention of European regulators and policy makers.

On the global stage, EUTC, in partnership with other regional utility associations made significant progress developing a report on Utility Radiocommunications Systems at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) meeting held in Mexico in May 2023.  All 193 United Nations (UN) Member States are entitled to attend meetings, and because reports have to be built on a consensus basis, progress is naturally fairly slow.  However, the simple fact that radio regulatory bodies from around the world are discussing the importance of utility telecoms is encouraging and raises awareness of the need for access to harmonised radio spectrum for utility operations.

The ITU-R (ITU Radio Sector) Delegation is lead by the Utilities Telecom & Technology Council America Latina (UTCAL) in collaboration with the Utilities Technology Council based in Washington DC, together with EUTC to ensure a global perspective to match the UN mandate.  The report now contains an increasing number of National Annexes to explain how utility radiocommunication requirements are met in different countries.  EUTC is able to reflect the interests of utility organisations in ITU Region 1 which includes Europe, Middle East and Africa.

The importance of this work cannot be understated as telecoms and radio regulators around the world take their lead from the ITU, a process which culminates with their 4-yearly World Radio Conference, the next one taking place in Dubai in November 2023.

The next meeting of the Working Group will be in Geneva in September 2023 when it is anticipated that the Utilities Report will be elevated to the next status level of its drafting.

EUTC was pleased to accept an invitation by the Utilities Telecom & Technology Council America Latina (UTCAL) to participate in their 10^th Annual Summit in Rio de Janeiro in March 2023.

Over 800 delegates attended in person, with translation provided into three working languages.

The Summit provided a valuable opportunity to share views and discuss common issues which face all utilities and their vendors, and with active participation by both energy and telcoms regulators, all perspectives could be explored.

At the event, it was recognised that with many vendors operating globally and large utility corporations owning companies in several continents, the need to co-ordinate activities wherever possible becomes increasingly important.

On November 2021, the Spanish Member of the European Parliament Ms Pilar Del Castillo from the EPP Group, submitted a list of questions to the European Commission concerning the undergoing policy around the deployment of smart grids in the EU.

The main points of the questions concerned the permeation of digital technologies in the energy sector, namely the support that access to radio spectrums can provide to the development of smart grids, an essential tool to foster the energy transition.

The questions received a written reply from the cabinet of Mr Thierry Breton, Commissioner for Internal Market, Industry, Entrepreneurship & SMEs. The full text of the questions and official written reply can be read here.

The EUTC Board of Directors is grateful towards Ms del Castillo for supporting this necessary advocacy activity to allow the main European key players from the telecommunications sector to accelerate the works to achieve a digitalised and carbon-neutral Europe.

Per rule 138 of the European Parliament, the policymaking process of the European Union allows Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to submit questions for written answer to the European Commission – for which an official written reply must be provided within a period of six weeks. MEPs often engage with stakeholders from civil society in order to submit questions that address their needs.

Brussels, Belgium – On 30 May 2022, the European Utilities Telecom Council (EUTC) and the European Energy Information Sharing and Analysis Centre (EE-ISAC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) aiming to reinforce the cyber resilience of critical infrastructures in Europe.  and practices.

With this Agreement of Cooperation, EUTC and EE-ISAC demonstrate their commitment to exchanging information related to cyber threats, and reports of intrusion events, as well as sharing best practices for protecting sensitive information and identifying critical asset classes and methodologies.

EE-ISAC is the result of multidisciplinary cooperation reached in Europe by private operators, service providers, academia and (non-) governmental agencies, with the mission of strengthening resilience through information sharing within a community of over 30 members. Activities include sharing information on the evolution of the threat to energy infrastructures and sharing of best practices and innovative initiatives in the context of the protection of networks, industrial systems and operational technology.

“We strongly believe that this new connection represents a valuable opportunity to reinforce the cyber security network in Europe as a whole”

Massimo Rocca, Interim Chairman of EE-ISAC

EUTC is a non-profit association, which concentrates on 6 areas of expertise which range from Smart Grid, Telecom & Utilities, Digitalisation further to Cybersecurity. Within this field, they not only research and contribute to the latest trends, but also actively interact directly with the ever-changing energy grid field users. These include the vendor supply chain, the utility community itself, and the regulators at the national as well as EU level.

“ This is a key opportunity for developing joint approaches to the ever-evolving cyber security challenges which we all face. EUTC members operate systems classed as critical infrastructure and as such have the highest levels of physical and cyber security in place. However, as EU utilities work to decarbonise and digitalise the energy sector to meet the UN climate change objectives, the attack surface in their networks expands significantly. The interconnected nature of telecommunications and energy supply has never been more apparent and impacts every aspect of our daily lives – making resilience and security essential at every level.”

Julian Stafford, Secretary General of EUTC

The Partnership, therefore, offers the two organisations the opportunity to further strengthen their common interest in attaining further reliability and security of electric power systems. Together, EUTC and EE-ISAC allow sharing information between more than 40 stakeholder groups by therefore enhancing the organisations’ cyber security posture.

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About EE-ISAC
European Energy Information Sharing & Analysis Centre is an industry-driven, information sharing network of trust. Private utilities, solution providers and (semi)public institutions such as academia, governmental and non-profit organizations share valuable information on cyber security and cyber resilience in the European Energy industry.
For more information, please visit www.ee-isac.eu. For media inquiries, please contact contact@ee-isac.eu.

EMR Integrated Solutions has joined EUTC in January 2022. We had a chat with Alan Feenman, Sales Director, to hear about their activities and how they see their participation in EUTC.

Can you provide a brief background to EMR’s activities and objectives?

With headquarters in Ireland and a project delivery arm in the UK, EMR Integrated Solutions is a specialist OT communications, SCADA and instrumentation solutions provider.  We design, deliver and support mission-critical core networks based on technologies such as DWDM, MPLS-TP and secure edge networks incorporating fibre, microwave, satellite and cellular mobile technologies.  Our clients include household names such as ESB, SSE, NPg, Western Power Distribution, Northern Ireland Electricity, and renewables companies such as Greencoat.  With over 40 years systems integration experience and 24/7 managed services, EMR helps utility customers to ensure that their communications networks can deliver the required operational data in a secure and timely manner. 

In what ways do EMR’s objectives align with the goals of EUTC and the rest of its members?

Our raison d’être is to help energy providers deliver a smarter, greener power grid for their customers. We take utility providers on a digital transformation journey, enabling the migration of legacy networks to secure IP-based communications systems, which provide the type of high-performance, data-driven intelligence required to promote greater energy efficiency across the grid.  More robust cyber security also plays a key role in our philosophy of building network architecture for next generation utility providers.

Why has EMR decided to join EUTC?

Our main objectives in joining EUTC centre are networking and knowledge sharing.  Like other EUTC members, we face common challenges such as spectrum allocation and cyber security.  These are burning issues for us and our clients, and through the EUTC we use the power of the collective to gather information and learn, and in turn share our real world experiences with the community at large.  As we are based on a small island on the periphery of Europe, being able to tap into that European experience through EUTC members is vital for us.

What is EMR’s vision on how utilities telecom can help foster a net zero carbon Europe?

EMR is committed to a net zero carbon Europe.  But these aren’t empty words.  It’s about leading by example and they must be backed by action.  That’s why we have taken concrete steps to ensure that as an organisation EMR will meet its target of net zero carbon footprint by 2030.  Practical actions such as replacing ageing vehicles in our fleet with hybrid and electric models, as well as insisting that our supply chain aligns itself to a net zero carbon future have already been taken. We are very encouraged by the increasing number of organisations across industry who insist on their suppliers sharing their net zero carbon approach to business.

Innovation in the field of SIM cards provides an excellent opportunity for efficiency yet at the same time a challenge if not standardised, especially for utilities and telecommunications! Deepen your understanding on the importance of eSIM and remote SIM provisioning (RSP) for European utilities and telecommunications. 

Save the date for EUTC’s latest webinar on January 12, 2022 and join us from 13 to 14:30 CET! The webinar will focus on two recent advances in SIM technology: embedded SIM (eSIM) and remote SIM provisioning (RSP), becoming more and more important as we march toward a world of increasingly connected people and devices with the Internet of things (IoT).

Join various presentations from a number of key players in the SIM card field, including Stedin, Enexis and Kore along with EUTC, the united voice for European utilities and telecommunications. 

The event is free of charge to all members of EUTC and European regulators. Non-members are welcome to register and can join at a fixed participation fee of 250 EUR (excluding VAT). It is an open meeting where quality experiences, realities and information will be exchanged in a transparent and trusted manner among peers.