Multi-Utility Metering over a Single Communication Network

Why Utilities Need One Communication Network for Electricity, Gas and Water Metering

Utilities worldwide are expanding their smart infrastructure beyond electricity metering. In addition to smart electricity meters, utilities increasingly deploy gas meters, water meters, Customer Interface Units (CIUs), sensors and other connected devices.

A key challenge is how to integrate these devices into a single communication infrastructure while maintaining low operational costs, long battery lifetimes and multi-vendor interoperability.

The latest G3 specification and Certification Release V8 published in June 2026 address this challenge by introducing support for battery-powered RF devices that can seamlessly integrate into existing G3-Hybrid networks. Instead of deploying separate communication networks for electricity, gas and water metering, utilities can now operate a single unified communication infrastructure based on G3-Hybrid technology.

Following the publication of the updated G3 specification, the G3-Alliance certification program now includes certification of battery-powered RF devices that can seamlessly integrate into G3-Hybrid networks. The new RF-BAT certification profile extends the proven G3 certification ecosystem with dedicated conformance, interoperability and performance testing specifically designed for battery-powered devices.
This evolution enables a unified communication infrastructure for multi-utility applications.

The Challenge of Multi-Utility Deployments

Traditional multi-utility deployments often evolve into disconnected communication islands. Electricity metering, gas metering, water metering and customer interaction systems frequently operate on different technologies, different vendors and separate maintenance structures. Historically, electricity, gas and water metering systems have often evolved independently.

Utilities typically face three deployment approaches:

Time synchronization

• Energy consumption in reception (RX) mode is much lower than in transmission (TX) mode è TX time shall be reduced as much as possible to achieve long battery lifetimes
• Yet, time synchronization is crucial, especially for FH è to minimize the number of TX, a passive synchronization mechanism based on Coordinated Sampled Listening (CSL) [802.15.4 §6.12.2] is adapted for use with G3 hybrid
• To improve efficiency, an LN shall maintain two separate CSL periods:
  • A broadcast period that allows reception of broadcast frames sent by a parent to all its child nodes
  • A unicast period that allows reception of unicast frames sent by a parent to a dedicated leaf node
  • Overview of the time synchronization schedule (comprising Unicast and Broadcast LN listening windows) determined by a parent node for all of its LNs:

Data transmission

• LN to parent communication
  • Unicast: Data transmission can be initiated at any time.
  • Multicast: LNs shall not initiate multicast transmissions.
• Parent to LN communication
  • Unicast: Data transmission can be initiated at UC listening windows.
  • Multicast: Data transmission can be initiated at BC listening windows.
• In order to maximize the throughput, the parent node may send data continuously to its child nodes, using the Frame Pending bit set to 1.

Information Element Definition

• Beacon Filter IE (BF-IE)
  • Can be included in an Enhanced Beacon Request to control which G3-Hybrid device may reply with a Beacon frame, based on functionality support or reception quality
• Leaf Node Unicast Timing Request IE (LNUCTR-IE)
• Leaf Node Unicast Timing IE (LNUCT-IE)
  • A LNUCTR-IE may be sent in a frame whenever UC time synchronization is needed (e.g. at initial join)
  • A LNUCT-IE is sent in an Enh-ACK as an answer to the LNUCTR-IE received in the frame triggering Enh-ACK transmission
• Leaf Node Broadcast Timing IE (LNBCT-IE)
  • A LNBCT-IE carries timing info valid for all child nodes and is present in all frames sent from the parent to its child nodes.

A Unified Architecture for Electricity, Gas and Water Metering

Using G3-Hybrid, battery-powered gas and water meters can become part of the same communication infrastructure already used for electricity metering.

Battery-powered gas and water meters benefit from:

• Existing G3-Hybrid network coverage
• Unified authentication mechanisms
• Common addressing architecture
• Shared cybersecurity framework
• End-to-end IPv6 communication
• Multi-vendor interoperability

The result is a single communication infrastructure capable of supporting multiple utility services simultaneously. This architecture reduces deployment complexity while preserving the flexibility utilities require for future expansion.

Beyond Multi-Utility Metering: Customer Interface Units, Sensors and IoT Devices

The introduction of battery-powered devices enables far more than gas and water metering.

Customer Interface Units (CIUs) represent an important example. Many utilities deploy CIUs for:

• Prepayment systems
• Consumption displays
• Customer notifications
• Energy management applications

Traditionally these devices often required separate communication infrastructures. 

With the new G3 battery-powered architecture, CIUs can reuse the RF communication capabilities already present within smart metering deployments. This reduces deployment costs, eliminates duplicate communication technologies and simplifies system integration.

The same approach can be extended to sensors and other IoT devices, allowing utilities to gradually expand their smart infrastructure while maintaining a single communication backbone. The same architecture can support:

• Environmental sensors
• Grid monitoring devices
• Smart city applications
• Industrial monitoring systems
• Building automation devices

This enables utilities to gradually expand their digital infrastructure while maintaining a single communication backbone.