September 17, 2009
White Paper: Comparison of Public Versus Private Communication Networks for DA
Some utilities — concerned about the cost of operating and maintaining private radio systems — have migrated from private radio networks to shared-public cellular telephony or cellular digital packet data (CDPD) for control and SCADA applications. Cellular modems in large quantity are much less costly than most radios. However, cellular service has demonstrated some significant shortcomings, including coverage, availability, and reliability issues — which are of particular concern in distribution automation applications. This white paper provides a comparison of public versus private communication networks for distribution automation applications.