Utilities Look to "Field Area Networks"

Add “field area network” (FAN) to the list of acronyms we use to describe communications networks of various functions and coverage areas, ranging from wide area network to metropolitan area network to local area network.

By 2020, annual global shipments of wireless communications nodes to support FANs will reach 14.3 million units, according to Pike Research.

The market for private utility FANs--which generally will be private networks--will be led by North America, which represented about 82 percent of world shipments in 2012.  

That share will decline steadily to 2020, but North America will still account for 44 percent of world shipments by 2020.  

The fastest growth in the decade will come in Latin America, where shipments will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 48 percent.

FANs will use a variety of wireless networks, ranging from radio frequency mesh and Wi-Fi to WiMAX or LTE technology.

A FAN is a network used to connect various devices located in a utility’s “field” of operations, which can include smart meters, concentrators, distribution assets, control and protection equipment, and substation equipment, according to Pike Research.

Some field area networks will use the 802.15.4 standard for fixed terrestrial radio networks. Others might use Long Term Evolution, Some also predict systems using the 802.15.4 standard, with point-to-multipoint fixed wireless, will dominate the networks used to support FANs.

But LTE networks operated by leading mobile companies could be a growing factor in the FAN market.

ABB, GE, S&C and Eaton are some of the established firms selling systems for the field communications market.