Nokia announced it has been selected by Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) to enhance its new network based on packet microwave technology.
The microwave communications network supports a range of mission-critical services for the utility’s power transmission and distribution grid, delivering power to KCP&L’s more than 800,000 customers in and around Kansas City, Missouri as well as parts of neighboring state of Kansas.
The network will use Nokia’s Wavence microwave packet radio family of technologies (formerly known as the 9500 Microwave Packet Radio), which will enable the utility to support all of its grid control applications alongside its legacy data services using a single, converged network.
The solution will simplify the management and operation of KCP&L’s network, while laying the groundwork for the introduction of emerging grid applications in the future. Nokia has signed a 10-year agreement to enable network expansions and upgrades.
The current deployment, covering 40 sites, is already underway and is to be completed before the end of 2017. A second phase consisting of 29 additional sites will follow shortly after.
Melvin Sam Charuvilayil, supervisor Network Planning & Engineering, KCP&L, said, “Nokia’s microwave packet radio technology delivers the reliability and performance needed to support our current operations, while providing the scalability and flexibility to introduce new services in the future.”
Kamal Ballout, head of the Global Energy Segment at Nokia, said, “Nokia understands the needs of power utilities like KCP&L, and has dedicated a great deal of effort to ensuring that our packet microwave technology can meet the requirements today, while preparing networks for the introduction of even more advanced technologies in the future.”
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