Netmore has acquired Spain’s Arson Metering, strengthening its vertical utilities expertise with 500,000 smart water/gas deployments. The deal supports Netmore’s global LoRaWAN expansion, utility automation ambitions, and large-scale metering projects, notably in Europe.
In sum – what to know:
Vertical expertise – deal enhances Netmore’s proposition in the smart metering space, and adds 500,000 connections to its books.
Global strategy – the last LoRaWAN operator with a truly global network strategy, the deal chimes with Netmore’s IoT pitch across the planet.
Control centre – the Spanish metering company has its own NOC-style monitoring hub, and a good reputation for meeting high-end KPIs.
Public LoRaWAN operator Netmore Group has acquired Spanish smart meter specialist Arson Metering for an undisclosed fee. With the deal, the Sweden-based firm, which has been busy buying LoRaWAN operator businesses over the past couple of years in order to build and consolidate a position as the planet’s premier non-cellular public IoT operator, has strengthened its in-house vertical domain expertise in the utilities market.
Arson Metering, headquartered in Bilbao, makes its own remote meter reading and smart management solutions, and has an established customer base in the water and gas network supply markets in Europe. It has 500,000 water and gas meter deployments across more than 200 municipalities in Spain, Italy, France, and Greece. It claims a backlog of approximately 350,000 meters. It also runs a Meter Operations Centre to manage its deployments.
Netmore, the last operator attempting to build a global LoRaWAN network, operates in 18 countries and is backed by Nordic infrastructure investor Polar Structure. Recent acquisitions include Dutch LoRaWAN operator Everynet, which has given it a foothold in South America, plus Italy, Indonesia, Andorra, and Iceland, as well as an extended presence in the US, UK, Spain, and Ireland. The Everynet deal doubled Netmore’s global connections to 2.3 million.
The Cellnex arrangement in the UK is to support rollout of LoRaWAN-based smart meters for regional water utilities in the country. It has a major deal with Yorkshire Water to exchange 1.3 million water meters in one of Europe’s largest LoRaWAN water metering projects. The new purchase of Arson Metering is related, providing it with expertise in AMI to deliver against strict service levels required by utilities to meet regulatory and environmental goals.
Its NOC-style meter control centre is a specialized hub for analysing and detecting anomalies and meter / network issues for utility customers and installation partners. It also has a remote meter reading platform, AquaCity, that integrates sundry smart meter brands for monitoring, anomaly detection, and data analysis, and a gas management platform, GasCity, with automated valve control, anomaly detection, and “minimal energy consumption”.
Ove Anebygd, chief executive at Netmore Group, called the purchase “another transformative step” for Netmore to provide “end-to-end solutions for utility automation and modernization across the globe”. He stated: “[Its] utility solutions and track-record for delivering best-in-class KPIs align with our mission to provide high quality, reliable, and easy to use solutions… Together, we’ll help municipalities and utilities tackle pressing challenges like water scarcity, leakage, and resource constraints, delivering measurable value to customers and communities.”
Amador Martínez, chief executive at Arson Metering, said: “Joining forces with Netmore marks an exciting new chapter… Our shared approach to driving smarter, more efficient utility operations creates a powerful synergy for utilities and smart cities. For our customers this means enhanced connectivity to manage water and gas networks, while opening the door to global markets for Arson Metering’s products and services – now backed by Netmore’s extensive infrastructure and expertise.”
The business will continue to operate from its headquarters in Bilbao.
