Finnish technology company Wirepas said its radio frequency (RF) mesh technology is now being used in more than 12 million smart electricity meters across India, making the country its largest market globally.
The technology has been deployed in Assam, Ladakh, Uttar Pradesh and Himachal Pradesh, connecting meters across different geographical conditions, from densely populated urban areas to remote Himalayan regions.
Wirepas said its technology is installed in approximately 4.6 million operational smart meters in Assam, nearly one million in Uttar Pradesh, 700,000 in Himachal Pradesh and all 60,000 meters covered under Ladakh's smart metering programme.
The expansion comes as India continues its nationwide smart metering programme under the Revamped Distribution Sector Scheme (RDSS), which aims to install 25 crore prepaid smart consumer meters by March 2028.
Deployment Across Four States
According to the Ministry of Power, 5.97 crore smart meters had been installed across different schemes by February 2026. In Assam, 50.36 lakh meters had been installed under RDSS against 64.45 lakh sanctioned, as of February 28, 2026.
Wirepas uses a mesh network in which individual meters communicate with one another and pass readings through the network. Unlike conventional connectivity systems, the technology does not require dedicated gateways or SIM cards for every meter.
In Ladakh, where difficult terrain and high altitude can make conventional connectivity challenging, all 60,000 meters in the programme use Wirepas connectivity. The Ministry of Power reported that 57,509 of these meters had been installed.
In Uttar Pradesh, the company is working with Polaris Smart Metering to connect nearly one million meters, including in rural areas where installing additional communications infrastructure can be difficult.
In Himachal Pradesh, Wirepas technology is used in 700,000 meters. The state presents a mix of connectivity challenges, including remote mountain areas and densely populated hill towns.
Technology and Power Distribution
"India is the toughest testbed imaginable for IoT. It is dense, diverse and dynamic. If your radio network performs there, it performs anywhere," said Teppo Hemiä, chief executive of Wirepas.
He said the company's technology was being used in both crowded urban buildings and remote villages, allowing electricity meters to continue communicating with utilities under different conditions.
Smart metering is a key part of the government's efforts to improve the financial performance of power distribution companies. Ministry of Power data show that India's aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses declined from 21.91% in FY21 to 15.04% in FY25.
Connectivity Challenges Ahead
Wirepas said the next phase of smart meter deployment will bring additional connectivity challenges, particularly in densely populated areas and locations where meters are spread over long distances.
"The choice of technology needs to follow the site," said Ashish Sahay, sales director and country manager for India at Wirepas, in a recent article published in Power Peak Digest.
He said dense RF mesh networks could be suitable for urban areas, while locations with widely dispersed meters may require dual communication or cellular-backed connectivity.
The company said its platform supports both approaches, allowing utilities and advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) service providers to use different connectivity options within the same deployment plan.
Wirepas has been operating in India since 2018 and works with local meter manufacturers and AMI providers, including Allied Engineering Works, Polaris Smart Metering, Capital Power Systems and HPL Electric & Power.
The company was attending the Distribution Utility Meet in Jaipur on October 27-28 to discuss its experience with power distribution utilities.
Notably, headquartered in Tampere, Finland, Wirepas develops wireless connectivity technology for large-scale Internet of Things (IoT) networks. Its technology is used in more than 20 million connected devices worldwide, including over 12 million smart electricity meters in India.
