Skip to content
MarketScale
‹ Back to IndustriesEnergy

From Scalability & Security to Holistic Data Integration: The Impact of LTE Networks in Grid Modernization

LTE networks are playing a critical role in grid modernization by providing utilities with scalable, secure, and unified wireless infrastructure. As grid operations grow more complex, LTE enables holistic data integration across distributed assets, helping utilities manage cost pressures while meeting rising connectivity demands.

This story was produced through MarketScale. See how Energy teams put it to work with Customer Stories & Case Studies.

Promoted content from Experts Talk on MarketScale.

By Charlie Nobles · Charlie NoblesGrid ModernizationLte NetworksUbiquia
Share

Key takeaways

01

LTE networks offer utilities a unified wireless infrastructure that supports scalability and security across grid operations.

02

Holistic data integration enabled by LTE helps utilities gain visibility into increasingly complex and distributed grid assets.

03

Balancing cost pressures with advanced connectivity demands is a central challenge LTE infrastructure helps utilities address.

Get featured

Want to get featured in MarketScale Energy?

Create a free MarketScale workspace and get your company's expertise featured across our Energy coverage. No credit card, no demo required.

Start free

As the utility sector pushes towards grid modernization, a pressing question arises: Why should carriers provide low-cost LTE networks for monitoring new devices in the grid, and why is it crucial for utilities to avoid deploying a multitude of disparate network solutions? This inquiry is especially pertinent given the rapid evolution of smart grid technologies and the increased demand for robust and secure network communications. The adoption of LTE networks in grid modernization by utilities can potentially streamline operations and enhance the monitoring of grid devices, avoiding the complexities and costs associated with multiple independent network solutions.

In MarketScale's latest Experts Talk roundtable, industry expert Charlie Nobles sheds light on this subject. Nobles, who serves as the Vice President of Utilities Business Development at Ubiquia, advocates for leveraging existing, scalable LTE networks to support grid modernization efforts. He emphasizes the efficiency and security benefits of such an approach, contrasting it with the fragmented strategies that utilities often employ, thereby underscoring the importance of LTE networks in grid modernization.

By using LTE networks, utilities can incorporate data from various devices into a unified system, providing a more comprehensive view of the grid's performance.

Key insights from Nobles include:

Scalability and Security: LTE networks offer a proven, secure framework that can scale with the utility's needs.

Avoiding Fragmentation: Utilities should refrain from relying on numerous disparate networks, which can complicate management and increase costs.

Holistic Data Integration: By using LTE networks, utilities can incorporate data from various devices into a unified system, providing a more comprehensive view of the grid's performance.

Cost-Effectiveness: LTE networks provide a cost-effective solution for the widespread monitoring of new devices across the grid.

Carrier Collaboration: Encouraging collaboration between carriers and utilities to use existing telecommunications infrastructure can lead to enhanced grid management and innovation.

This strategic approach not only simplifies the technological landscape but also maximizes the potential for real-time data utilization and operational efficiency in the utility sector.

Video TranscriptExpand ↓

I know we're kind of all topic from how do the telcos play here, and I'm gonna bring that back in. One of the things we do at Ubiquia is we use the existing, scaled, robust, secure LTE networks. Now there's a big push for private LTE networks as well. But in addition to the bespoke networks already out there, the metering networks, etcetera, I think there's a play for if monitoring the rest of these devices, these assets in the field, as Dominique mentioned, that are in the dark, as Nick mentioned. But using LTE networks for those. Do not try to do everything on either your AMI network or some other network you've already deployed, but not to keep deploying disparate point solutions. Use the LTE networks. It's robust. It's real time. Bring data back from these other devices that you can shine a light on and combine that holistically with the the data you already have and get a fuller picture of what's out there. That I think that's the crossover I'd like to present between the the carriers and the utilities is letting the carriers participate by providing access to low cost, ubiquitous LTE networks for now monitoring new classes of devices in the grid.

Experts Talk

Part of this channel

Experts Talk

Industry experts debate the ideas that drive B2B decisions.

Visit the channel

Your experts belong here

Every story in MarketScale Energy starts with a company putting its field engineers, operations leads, and project developers on the record. Buyers are already reading this topic. The only question is whose experts they find.

Developers and operators shortlist on credibility, and your engineers give your sales team something real to send.

Get your team featuredSee how it works15 minutes, straight to a calendar.

About the author

CN
Charlie Nobles

Follow Energy Insights

Get new expert content in your inbox.

Energy: are you visible to AI?

Before they reach out, Energy buyers ask AI engines which vendors to trust. Explore how your experts, customers, and partners can become useful content for buyers and AI search.

Free plan

You just read one Energy expert. Your company is full of them.

This article was produced through MarketScale. The same platform turns your field engineers, operations leads, and project developers into the articles, video, and social content Energy buyers are searching for. Create a free workspace and see it with your own people. No credit card, no demo required.

NPS +73 · 1,000+ creators · 38+ countries

What you get, free

Your own MarketScale workspace, up to 10 people
One professional video edit a month for qualifying companies
Media requests to your crowd, remote recording, AI writing tools
$0, no credit card, nothing that expires

More Energy Insights

UK storage support scheme could cut battery project returns by up to 2.7 points

UK storage support scheme could cut battery project returns by up to 2.7 points

LCP Delta estimates the UK long-duration storage cap-and-floor could cut battery project returns by 2.7 percentage points against a no-new-storage baseline, Energy-Storage.news reported. Against its central scenario, the hit is only 0.5 points. Italy's MACSE round two on 24 November and Germany's 23GWh residential VPP rules show the same pattern: policy design sets storage returns.

  • 01The question for any UK battery revenue case is now which baseline it assumed: LCP Delta's estimated hit ranges from 0.5 to 2.7 IRR points depending on whether significant long-duration storage was already modelled.
  • 02Germany's new virtual power plant rules turn its residential battery base into what Energy-Storage.news describes as a 23GWh grid asset, and the outlet says the distinction between residential and grid-scale storage is now less obvious.

Sep 18, 2026

DNV expects half of new solar plants to include batteries by the mid-2030s

DNV expects half of new solar plants to include batteries by the mid-2030s

DNV forecasts about half of new solar installations will include battery storage by the mid-2030s, up from roughly 6.6% today. Its GreenPowerMonitor unit is expanding hybrid energy management software to match. For solar operators, controls and cybersecurity now sit on the critical path.

  • 01DNV puts today's solar-plus-storage attach rate at roughly 6.6%; its forecast of about half by the mid-2030s puts the shift inside the operating life of plants being commissioned now.
  • 02An energy management system spec can now be tested against concrete numbers: 400-plus supported protocols and IEC 62443 and ISO 27001 certification are reference points DNV’s GPM puts on the table, with DNV also pointing to NIS2 as an example of the cybersecurity requirements the industry faces.
  • 03Masdar's 5.2GW solar and 19GWh battery plant in the UAE, due to complete in 2027, is built to deliver 1GW of clean energy to the grid round the clock, according to Energy Storage News.

Sep 18, 2026

Bestway Cement now gets over a quarter of its plant power from solar

Bestway Cement now gets over a quarter of its plant power from solar

Bestway Cement's Chakwal plant in Pakistan now gets over a quarter of its electricity from 26 MW of solar and is adding 6.34 MW by year end, the Financial Times reports. Its general manager calls solar the only way to compete. Global solar capacity reached almost 1.2 TW at end-2025, per the Energy Institute. The case shows what solar can cover at one cement plant.

  • 01A cement plant producing over 3 million tonnes a year is covering more than a quarter of its electricity with 26 MW of its own solar, a rare public benchmark for self-generation in heavy industry.
  • 02Bestway's general manager frames solar as a competitive necessity because rivals have already gone in this direction, which shifts the question for energy-intensive plants from whether solar pays back to what a competitor's power bill looks like.
  • 03Global solar capacity of almost 1.2 TW is roughly three times the nuclear fleet on paper, but sunlight availability means output is a fraction of nameplate, so capacity numbers overstate delivered energy.

Sep 17, 2026

Explore More Energy Insights

Read more expert perspectives from across Energy.

Browse Energy Hub

About the Expert

CN
Charlie Nobles

For B2B teams

Your experts could be publishing here

Stories like this one run on content MarketScale captures from real practitioners. See how your team's expertise becomes coverage in Energy and beyond.

Book a 15-minute demo

Or call us. No forms required. We pick up. 214-945-2512