RuggedCom and CURRENT Group Collaborate to Deliver
Integrated Advanced Smart Grid Applications for Distribution
Automation using WiMAX
24.03.2010
GERMANTOWN, Md. & CONCORD, Ontario–(BUSINESS WIRE)– RuggedCom Inc. (“RuggedCom”)
(TSX:RCM), a leading provider of rugged communications networking solutions designed for missioncritical applications in harsh environments, and CURRENT Group, LLC, a provider of innovative and
industry-leading intelligent and optimized solutions to monitor and manage the distribution grid,
announced today that they will collaborate to jointly deliver integrated smart grid infrastructure and
advanced applications for distribution automation. The integrated solution will enable electric utilities to
improve the reliability and efficiency of the distribution grid, speed integration of renewable and distributed
energy resources, and reduce technical losses and total load of their distribution system in a timely, more
secure and more cost-effective manner.
Through this collaboration, electric utilities will be able to quickly adopt smart grid capabilities by
combining RuggedCom’s utility grade IP-based communication networks which include the
RuggedMAX™ family of utility grade WiMAX IEEE802.16e compliant broadband wireless products with
CURRENT’s intelligent sensors, OpenGrid™ utility element management system, and System
Optimization and Reliability analytical software solutions.
“We are seeing an increasing number of electric utilities around the world choosing WiMAX for multiple
applications as part of their Smart Grid solution” said Elik Jaeger, Vice President, RuggedWIRELESS.
“We believe that a reliable utility grade communications infrastructure is critical to creating a dependable
Smart Grid implementation. Our award winning, field proven, utility grade communications technology
coupled with our experience with over 700 utilities around the world allows us to offer a comprehensive
communications solution of both wireline and wireless products capable of being the communications
backbone of any Smart Grid application.”
“Utilities are faced with increased pressure to improve distribution system performance and efficiency
while at the same time assuring they invest in technology that is reliable, secure and scalable to handle
the business needs of today and the increasingly demanding needs of an emerging energy paradigm,”
said CURRENT CEO Tom Casey. “CURRENT’s technology solutions are communications agnostic and
allow us to partner with leading communications solutions providers such as RuggedCom whose market
growth in the energy sector is a leading indicator of where utility communications are going. We believe
WiMAX is one of the communications solutions utilities may consider and we are pleased to be able to
offer an integrated solution to those customers.”
This collaboration will leverage the core experience of both companies to deliver key building blocks for
an IP-enabled smart grid and provides electric power utilities process information securely, reliably and in
real time.
About CURRENT Group
CURRENT Group, LLC delivers innovative and industry-leading intelligent solutions that optimize the
distribution system and offer utilities new ways to monitor and manage the health of the grid. Through
CURRENT’s distribution sensing, monitoring, and analytical technologies, utilities are better able to
understand, predict and respond to system disturbances and faults, identify where inefficiencies are, and
enable the smartest possible sourcing and distribution of power.
CURRENT’s state-of-the-art technologies are being implemented by utilities around the globe and are
utilized in the largest and most advanced demonstration projects in the world. CURRENT is engaged in
European Union-sponsored projects in partnership with Iberdrola, the world’s 4th largest electric utility,
among others, to expand the use of Smart Grid technology in the European Union. This year, CURRENT
was selected for the second year in a row as one of GoingGreen East’s Top 50 Private GreenTech
companies. In 2009 alone, CURRENT was honored by the World Economic Forum as a 2009 Technology
Pioneer, selected by Venture Beat as one of the World’s Top 10 Most Innovative Smart Grid companies,
and selected by Dow Jones as one of the Top 10 most Innovative Clean Technology companies in
Europe.
CURRENT is a private company founded in 2000 that is backed by leading investors including Liberty
Associated Partners, EnerTech Capital, Google, Inc., and Goldman Sachs & Co. CURRENT is
headquartered outside of Washington, DC, with offices throughout the United States and in Switzerland
and Singapore, and has representation in Australia, France and Great Britain. For more information, visit
http://www.currentgroup.com.
About RuggedMAX™
RuggedMAX™ is a high-performance, long range, secure family of products fully compliant with the
WiMAX 802.16e Wave 2 (MIMO) mobile broadband wireless standard. RuggedMAX™ is designed to
extend IP networks over large distances to fixed and mobile users. The product family includes a variety
of base stations and subscriber stations with differing output power, form factors and frequency options
for use in licensed or license exempt bands.
The RuggedMAX™ product family has gone through extensive end to end network interoperability testing
to support multiple different ASN gateway platforms and 3rd party subscriber devices in order to give
customers flexibility by leveraging the full WiMAX ecosystem. RuggedMAX™ with its compact form factor
and flexible configuration is ideal for use in mission critical private networks. For more information about
RuggedMAX™ please visit www.RuggedWIRELESS.com and about RuggedGRID™please visit
www.RuggedGRID.com
About RuggedCom Inc.
RuggedCom is a leading provider of rugged communications networking solutions designed for missioncritical applications in harsh environments. RuggedCom’s technology solutions include Ethernet switches,
network routers, wireless devices, serial servers, media converters, software and professional services.
RuggedCom’s products are designed for use in harsh environments such as those found in electric power
substations and “Smart Grids”, intelligent transportation systems, industrial process control and military
applications. For further information, please visit www.RuggedCom.com.