Utility telecommunication services for secure and efficient smart grid operations

Robust telecommunication infrastructure is essential for integrating advanced technologies such as packet transport, IoT, and cloud computing. These capabilities drive operational efficiency, enhance customer engagement, and support the transition from legacy circuit-switched networks to high-performance packet-based systems.

This evolution, from time division multiplexing (TDM) to packet transport networks, meets growing demands for real-time communication, low latency, high bandwidth, and high availability. It strengthens grid reliability, improves outage management, and facilitates seamless integration of renewable energy sources.

However, utilities face critical challenges in this transformation, including:

• Maintaining strong cybersecurity.
• Ensuring interoperability while avoiding vendor lock-in.
• Meeting stringent performance and regulatory standards.
• Preserving long-term network stability amid frequent upgrades.

About DNV’s telecommunication services

DNV provides end-to-end utility telecommunication services tailored to enhance the digital capabilities of grid operators. Our solutions cater to both brownfield and greenfield projects, ensuring that utilities can upgrade existing systems or develop new infrastructures with better efficiency and effectiveness:

• Network assessment and master planning: Evaluating existing telecommunications infrastructure and developing technical specification requirements, and strategic plans for replacement, upgrade, and migration.
  
  
• High-level and low-level design: Crafting detailed network architectures tailored to the specific needs of utilities, ensuring efficiency, reliability, security, cost-effectiveness, and operational excellence.
  
  
• Project implementation quality assurance: Setting up and configuring telecom equipment and validating procedures through factory acceptance tests (FAT), site acceptance tests (SAT) and end-to-end tests.
  
  
• Replacement of legacy services: Develop the migration strategy and lead telecom replacement and migration projects from legacy telecom services and applications such as TDM (SDH, PDH) to new technologies and services such as carrier Ethernet, IP/MPLS, and MPLS-TP.
  
  
• Standards protocols: Selection and extension of protocol standards for international standards such as ITU-T, IETF, and IEEE-1613, and regional and country-based standards.
  
  
• Protocol standardization and testing: Providing expertise in defining and extending communication protocol standards, including IEC and IEEE, and conducting rigorous conformance, performance, and interoperability tests.
  
  
• Testing tools: Supply of testing tools to simulate protocol behaviour and analyse data traffic on networks.

Why DNV

DNV combines deep industry knowledge with a proven track record in utility telecommunications, helping global utilities build secure and future-ready networks. Our independent insights, shaped by active participation in leading standards committees, keep clients ahead of evolving technologies.

With strong technical expertise and project delivery capabilities across global teams, we provide a comprehensive service portfolio that optimizes systems for today while preparing for tomorrow.

As a contributor to international standards such as IEEE and IEC, and an active member of associations like UCA International Users Group, CIGRE, and GridWise, DNV helps define the protocols that ensure reliable, secure, and interoperable utility networks worldwide.