There are few battles fiercer in the cleantech business than the holy war currently being waged over which communications and networking technologies will prevail in smart grid deployments.

Wide area networking technologies are integral to the fabric of smart grids, and will be essential elements of any electric utility’s smart grid program. Current utility communication systems are highly fragmented, purpose-built for specific applications, and often based on proprietary technologies. However, the prevailing winds are blowing in the direction of more unified architectures that utilize two-way, low-latency, standards-based networking technologies that are scalable and flexible to support a variety of applications using varying bit rates.

Today Trilliant, already a significant player in RF mesh networking for smart grids, announced that it is acquiring SkyPilot Networks, a provider of broadband wireless mesh networking products for public safety, wireless ISP, video surveillance, VoIP, and AMR markets. SkyPilot utilizes standards-based Wi-Fi chipsets, but its special sauce includes synchronous switching technology that utilizes directional antennas to extend the range far beyond that of standard Wi-Fi.

With the merging of SkyPilot’s technologies into its own RF mesh product line, Trilliant asserts that it will gain a flexible, self-configuring mesh platform that has the following competitive advantages:

* Lower recurring cost than cellular machine-to-machine (M2M) plans offered by major wireless carriers like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile * Lower capex than WiMAX, with longer range * Lower capex and longer range than competing Metro Wi-Fi solutions such as the GridCom architecture recently announced by Tropos Networks * More standardized technology than competing RF mesh networking platforms, including those offered by smart meter vendors as well as third-party providers

The major utility business models currently developing within the smart grid networking market can be categorized in two general groups:

1. The capex/operator model, where utilities invest in their own proprietary infrastructure (usually RF mesh). This approach can reduce total cost of ownership, but requires more upfront capital investment, involves more operational complexity that may be outside the utility’s comfort zone, and poses the risk that the chosen technology may not be the best long-term bet.

2. The opex/outsource model, where utilities purchase network capacity on a wholesale basis, usually from a cellular carrier using technologies like EV-DO, GPRS, EDGE, or WCDMA. This approach has the advantage of minimizing upfront capital investment and creating a more predictable, variable cost structure that usually boils down to cents-per-megabyte. Cellular modules and terminal equipment are affordable, standards-based, and widely available, and the utility gains the advantage of a service level agreement with the carrier, while maintaining the flexibility to switch technologies at a later date. The big downside is higher recurring opex and, over time, likely a higher total cost of ownership. Additionally, many utilities have a need for 100% coverage and, as we all know, there are still plenty of dead zones that cellular networks simply don’t reach.

While Pike Research believes that #2 will be the more common approach as additional utilities settle on their smart grid deployment plans, segment #1 will still represent a significant portion of the market.

Within that segment, the Trilliant-SkyPilot combination creates a potent combination of the best of RF mesh capabilities and economics, combined with the cost and standards advantages of Wi-Fi.

In a sector that is increasingly obsessed with adopting standards-based solutions, this strategy may just tip the scales in favor of Trilliant for utilities that are on the fence about their technology decision. Now, if the company could just find a way to play nice with cellular M2M solutions and serve as a gap-filler for mission critical utility applications and other corners of coverage where cellular can’t reach, they would truly have the best of all worlds.

Clint Wheelock is Managing Director of clean technology marketing research and consulting firm Pike Research