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| Monthly news bulletin for and about the members of the - The Telecommunications and Information Technology Association for Utility, Energy, and Other Critical Infrastructure Companies | |||||||||||||||
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Early registration for UTC TELECOM 2008 ends today, April 1, 2008! UTC TELECOM 2008 is the place to find answers to your plaguing questions. Help us celebrate 60 years of service while you gain the education you need to make important industry decisions and plan for the future, while meeting other utility professionals. One highlighted session you won't want to miss is "The Power of Partnerships: the Value of Long-Term Utility Alliances With Technology Providers," which explores case studies of alliances and how they can work for you. If you haven't registered yet, now is the time, before early registration ends. View the program here [1] and then register online [2] - be sure to reserve your space on the 18-hole, par 72 championship golf course while you are at it! Plus, make your hotel reservations [3] at the Rosen Shingle Creek now to enter into UTC's monthly prize drawing up to the Annual Conference. We look forward to seeing you in Orlando, Florida this May! |
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The exhibit hall is 95% sold out and sponsorships are selling fast. UTC would like to thank those who have already helped to sponsor UTC TELECOM 2008. Limited sponsorships opportunities and exhibit space is still available. For more information on exhibiting and sponsorship opportunities please click here here [4] or email [5] Cheryl Stratos, UTC Sales. |
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UTC has created The Utilisite Benchmarking Survey and we need your help. The results of this survey will help UTC to better represent this market and provide useful information regarding the way in which utilities currently position their collocation operations. Everybody that completes the survey will receive a Starbucks gift card and will be entered in the chance to win an Apple iTouch. Click here [6] to start the survey. * Only Utilities can participate |
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UTC Canada is actively representing the interests of all utility telecom/IT professionals in Canada and paving the way for increased access to spectrum. This will make it easier for Canadian utilities to grow their business and offer new services to their customers, thereby increasing the bottom line. Add the member discounts,networking opportunities, Webinars and frequent regulatory alerts; and it's clear that UTC Canada is poised to offer a better return on investment than ever before. To find out more, visit www.utccanada.ca [7] or call 1.202.833.6816. Utilities in Canada are encouraged to plan now to attend the 2008 Canadian Utility Telecom Conference [8] scheduled for September 8-11, 2008 at The Fairmont Hotel in Winnipeg, MB. You can register by faxing in this registration form [9]. For more information, contact meetings@utc.org [10]. |
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The United Power Line Council (UPLC) is an alliance of electric utilities, technology companies and building owners working together to drive the development of Broadband over Power Line (BPL) in a manner that helps utilities and their partners succeed. We support BPL so strongly because of the versatility that it provides - versatility that utilities need now more than ever. Smart Grid, reliability, cyber security - these are all popular industry buzzwords for secure, reliable communications networks. But for utilities to get there, they need two-way real-time communications that reach all the way to the customer. They need a technology that is effective in rural and underground environments, as well as suburban and urban areas and on overhead lines. BPL combines these capabilities with additional features and functionalities (such as smart-home and smart-appliance applications) over an all-IP network that enables interoperable communications between a variety of devices that support utility applications. Membership is an even better value in 2008, with new lower rates for Principal Membership ($5,000 per member company) to encourage strong supporters of BPL to step up and become an active member in the process. For more information, visit the newly re-designed www.uplc.org [11] or call 202.833.6816. |
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The membership of the UtiliSite Council is growing! Launched last fall, the Council is an organization of utilities that offers a wide variety of support services for commercial wireless carriers, including antenna sitings, traffic backhaul and construction. We enhance every member utility's ability to market their services to carriers through the collective strength of all member organizations. UtiliSite Council members represent over 36,000 available collocation sites. We aim to be a "one-stop shop" for utility collocation opportunities. We are a reliable source for information on the best way to work with carriers, template contracts, and marketing of collocation opportunities. Your real estate is appealing to wireless carriers, and the Council can get your real-estate and collocation staff up to speed much quicker than it would take to grow your business alone. Principal Membership for utilities is only $5,000 and lasts through December 31, 2008. Visit us online at www.utilisite.utc.org [12] to find out more about the Council, to view the membership value proposition, or for instructions on how to enroll. For more information, contact Karnel Thomas, VP-Member Services, at 202.833.6816 or karnel.thomas@utc.org [13]. |
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The UTC Member Services Department has just launched a new Referral Rewards Program that rewards you for helping us to grow the association! All UTC member employees are eligible to participate in this voluntary program. When you refer a potential member to us, we will follow up and do our best to sign them up! When they do join, you will be recognized for your efforts and also be eligible for valuable rewards! WHAT ARE THE REWARDS?
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There are plenty of ways to get involved with UTC! UTC's Divisions and Committees provide a forum in which our members can network with their peers on specific issues that interest them. UTC divisions are now accepting volunteers. If you are interested in volunteering for a division or committee please contact Karnel Thomas, VP-Member Services, at 202.833.6816 or karnel.thomas@utc.org [14]. |
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Motorola plans to host its Utility Trunking Users Alliance (MUTUAL) meeting starting at 12:30 p.m. on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 at the Rosen Shingle Creek in Orlando, Florida, immediately following the last session of UTC TELECOM 2008. The MUTUAL meeting is open to current Motorola customers. During the meeting, attendees will receive the latest information on the systems, products and services that you use today. Additionally, the meeting will provide an overview of many emerging technologies and how they can be leveraged across a utility. For more information on the meeting, click here [15]. |
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The importance of Smart Metering for European energy organizations cannot be overstated as organizations look to implement next-generation technologies. In fact, Smart Metering will play a crucial role enabling the vision of Smart Grids, the upgrading the overall electrical grid - a major goal of the European Parliament. Smart Metering puts end users in the driver's seat, enabling them to better monitor energy use which ultimately leads to lower customer costs with improved conservation, reliability and grid management. To help take Smart Metering from concept to reality for members of the European Parliament, the European Utilities Telecom Council (EUTC) staged an exhibition at the European Parliament on 1 April 2008 in Brussels, sponsored by Alcatel Lucent and Landis & Gyr. As leading Smart Metering vendors in Europe, their products will form a centerpiece of the exhibit by showing actual demonstrations of each company's Smart Metering application. This demonstration is coupled with a presentation by Iberdrola, a Spanish energy organization and EUTC member company, on the importance of the use of open standards in the provision of telecommunication services and their interface to the energy and water meters in order to successfully drive implementation of large scale multi-meter solutions. |
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UTC has two informative Webinars on the horizon, one in April and one in May. Click on the links below for more information about each Webinar to register. Webinar: Emerging Trends in Emergency Communications Networking & Interoperability [16] April 16, 2008 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm EDT Speaker: Kamal Ballout, Director, Business Development, Alcatel-Lucent USA Webinar: Using Spread-Spectrum to Improve SCADA Communications [17] May 21, 2008 2:00 pm - 3:30 pm EDT |
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UTC Research Reports provide a starting point for energy and water companies when building future technology plans. For technology partners, reports can provide independent statistics to help you sell your products and services. Visit the NEW, IMPROVED UTC Book Store today at www.utc.org/research/reports/ [18] to see a list of all our reports in one location. Three of our most recent reports are featured below. Advanced Metering Infrastructure: Smart Metering Meets the Smart Grid For the past 20 years, utilities have focused considerable resources on Automated Meter Reading (AMR), but there has been a clear transition from the classic AMR approach to advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). UTC's newest report Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI): "Smart" Metering Meets the Smart Grid; delves further into the evolution of AMI. If you are looking at an AMI solution for your utility, this report can help you build a better business case to present to management, understand where AMI is headed in the future and examine how early implementations have worked thus far using a variety of technologies. As the best-known and most widely used Smart Grid application, even if you aren't looking to implement AMI in the near term, you should know more about it to prepare yourself when the time comes. Interested? Feel free to read the Table of Contents [19] and Executive Summary [20] and then order the report here [21]. BPL Growth Now Tied to Smart Grids UTC Research released its latest report on Broadband over Power Line (BPL) in January. The report, New Directions for Broadband over Power Line: 2007, updates the status of BPL deployment, outlines the opportunities and challenges for the industry, and concludes that the future is now for BPL in 2008. UTC is the authority on BPL, and it has been reporting on this technology since 1998. So much has happened since our last report in 2006 that you can't afford to miss out on the latest news, particularly as utilities undertake huge investments in smart-grid technologies. Interested? Feel free to read the Table of Contents [22] and Executive Summary [23] and then order the report here [24]. Updated NERC Report FERC has made its final ruling on the NERC CIP Standards, and utilities can now stop guessing. Despite the long process and delays, the tight NERC compliance timeline remains in place; utilities that do not meet audit requirements will face stiff penalties for non-compliance when audits begin in 2009. Building on last year's very popular UTC paper, NERC CIP Standards: Ten Steps to Compliance, UTC is working toward a revision and update with even clearer guidance on how to organize a CIP compliance effort. Please look for future communications from UTC on the availability of the updated NERC CIP paper, whose release will coincide with UTC's 2008 NERC Cyber Security Conference at the Hilton St. Louis at the Ballpark in St. Louis, MO. The program for the conference is now available online here [25]. To pre-order a copy of the report, contact UTC Research Coordinator Sara Ray at 202.833.6805 or sara.ray@utc.org [26]. For more information on any of the reports mentioned above, call UTC Director of Research Aldo Morri at 202.833.6828 or aldo.morri@utc.org [27]. |
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UTC Spectrum Services is operating in UTC's office again and there is no better chance than right now to check out what UTC Spectrum Services can do for you! UTC Spectrum Services is the premier provider of rapid, reliable, and creditable coordination and engineering services. Contact us at spectrumservices@utc.org [28] or 202.872.0030 for more information. |
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No one knows more about the needs of utility telecom/IT professionals than the Utilities Telecom Council! UTC's Career Center has been designed to help member organizations and others find the perfect candidate to fill their most important positions. We've made it easy to tap into the wealth of talent that UTC represents. At the same time, professionals in the field can view the latest job opportunities available 24 hours a day. Check out the latest positions listed through the Career Center. For more information, visit jobs.utc.org [29]. |
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