OPELIKA, Ala. and PARIS, April 24, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- The City of Opelika, Alabama will soon be providing residents with the ability to monitor and manage their own energy consumption to help save money and make their homes greener with the help of smart grid technology from Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU). A new fiber optic network will also give residents the opportunity to access new high-quality broadband voice, data and video services, including lightning-fast Internet access, IPTV and video-on-demand services.
A new high-capacity 'Fiber-to-the-home' (FTTH) network will bring these broadband connections to households and businesses and allow Opelika Power Services to extend the reach of its 'smart grid', supporting new power sensors and smart meters across the city.
The new network will allow the company to dynamically monitor and measure performance across the power grid in real time, helping them more effectively manage the flow of electricity and identify and resolve problems quickly, reduce repair time for outages and minimize impact to customers. A detailed picture of customers' energy needs will help the utility balance power supply and demand, leading to more operational efficiency, reduced waste and greener power. The use of remote sensors and smart meters will also provide savings by automating operations, enabling employees to work more efficiently and helping to minimize the risk of human error.
Residents will be offered advanced meter reading devices providing them with real-time information about the amount of energy being used in their households. As a result, they will be able to identify when their usage is at a peak and when there are opportunities, day or night, to reduce consumption and save money.
As importantly, the new FTTH network will also allow the city to provide high-speed connections directly to all the homes in the city, addressing a desire from many Opelika residents for higher-quality broadband services. The network will meet this demand for superfast Internet access, video and secure voice services.
A common citywide network securely supporting both smart grid communications and broadband services will create a more efficient use of resources, and support a variety of new business opportunities through the universal availability of high-speed connectivity.
Mayor Gary Fuller of the City of Opelika said: "We are pleased to work with Alcatel-Lucent to offer all the residents of the City of Opelika, as well as business and industry, a consistent quality of broadband service , which is what they have been asking for.