Helping Thames Water digitise to make better data-led decisions
Overview
Thames Water needed to change their communications technology ahead of the PSTN switch-off in 2027
Vodafone Business and CSL transformed their technologies to gain faster and more accurate data
The UK’s largest water company digitalised their telemetry assets to move to a more proactive maintenance model and save time for their workforce
Meet Thames Water
Thames Water is the UK’s largest water company. It provides water and waste water services to over 16 million people across London and the Thames Valley, covering over 13,000 square miles.
The challenge
Thames Water had many communication technologies, including 3,500 telemetry assets to inform the company about the level or flow of water.
These were provided by the UK’s Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). PSTN is coming to the end of its life, with a full switch-off coming in 2027.
The company needed a partner to help them move away from PSTN technologies before the switch- off. Having been a trusted partner for their voice and end-to-end platforms, Thames Water chose Vodafone Business to help them achieve this.
“Once the switch-off is complete in 2027, we will have all these extra sites now with a new communications method that's going to provide us with much more data so we can move towards our proactive maintenance model.”
The solution
Vodafone Business, alongside our partner CSL, provided Thames Water with a dual managed path platform.
The solution is a Vodafone and CSL modem that’s connected to one of their telemetry units, which collects data from sites.
Their old solution would log data locally, but often would not provide data until the end of the day. Now, Thames Water get the data immediately from across their 3,500 sites, sent straight to the control room.
The benefits
Thames Water have seen huge benefits since moving to this new technology. It provides them with faster and more accurate data readings and saves time for engineers in the field at these sites.
It also allowed the company's network team to focus on doing their jobs, rather than tracking faults.
As the PSTN switch-off continues and is completed in 2027, Thames Water will have extra sites with a new communications method. This will provide them with more data to help them move towards their proactive maintenance model.
Our futureproofing technologies are helping Thames Water improve their reliability, improve speeds and reduce their costs. As they continue with their digitisation strategy, they're able to gather more data and improve the way they deliver life's essential service through better data-driven decisions.