Overview

The four areas where EPRI 161G results help the industry overcome challenges are the Wide Area Network, the Field Area Network, Network Management, and Interoperability through standards.

Telecommunications |

Program 161G

Telecommunication is essential to utilities and has an increasingly critical role in the operation of the integrated grid, sometimes referred to as the “third grid”. In grid modernization, telecom supports higher penetrations of distributed energy resources (DER) and a greater reliance on sensors to provide situational awareness. No single technology can meet all the widely varying requirements, resulting in complex and heterogeneous telecom networks that are challenging to manage.

The project set addresses challenges that utilities face with respect to telecommunications and the modernization of their networks:

  • Planning a scalable, multi-service network that meets current and future needs.
  • Leveraging technologies and best practices from commercial telecom operators (both wireline and wireless).
  • Resolving barriers to complete the transition of the wide area network (WAN) to packet technologies.
  • Evaluating new technologies (including AI), and business models and partnerships to make fiber deployment in more locations economically viable.
  • Addressing industry challenges with potential interference to licensed microwave links.
  • Enabling wider use of wireless networks by identifying suitable licensed wireless spectrums and optimizing the use of available spectrum with AI and ML.
  • Stewarding the standards to enable interoperability and interchangeability.
  • Identifying the options commercial wireless and shared networks and navigating the transition to 5G networks.
  • Evaluating wireless technologies and network configuration approaches to deliver low-latency communications to support DER protection and other latency-sensitive use cases.
  • Developing approaches to maximize the performance of wireless technologies in unlicensed spectrums and developing strategies for alternatives when unlicensed bands can no longer support desired utility applications.
  • Evaluating the role of AI in improving telecom network operational efficiency.
  • Leveraging AI to improve telecom project risk management.
  • Developing resilient telecommunications infrastructure and evaluating satellite and other technologies for backup and emergency operations.
  • Developing best-in-class telecom network management, visualization, and control systems that take advantage of advances (such as AI, software-defined networking, software-defined WAN, and network functions virtualization) while maintaining reliability, resilience, and cyber security.

For information regarding ICT research at EPRI, click here Program 161: Information and Communication Technology | Overview.

Contacts | Program At-a-Glance | 2024 Annual Review | 2025 Research Preview | Past Research

2024 Deliverables

3002029950 6 GHz AFC Protection - Field Test Results
3002029953WAN Modernization Guidebook 2024 Edition
3002029958 Strategic Fiber Guidebook 2024 Edition
3002029961 Private LTE Guidebook 2024
3002029962 Low-Latency Cellular Network Testing and Configuration
3002029963 Network Management Systems Guidebook
3002029965 Satellite and Emergency Communication Phase 2
3002029964 Resilient Microgrids
3002029967 Telecom Standards Guidebook - 2024 Edition
3002029966 Comms Intelligencer Newsletter 1H 2024
3002029968 Comms Intelligencer Newsletter 2H 2024
3002029796 Power System Telecom Reliability – An Analytical Deconstruction

Lead: Tim Gpdfrey