Not down to the wire

An Emerson view of how wireless technology could be applied in a power plant.

Wireless technology is breaking into the region’s utilities sector.

The Middle East is a relative latecomer to wireless technology, which was first put to use in the US. Europe and Asia quickly followed.

And now, wireless technology is starting to make inroads into the region’s utilities sector. “The response in Middle East has been fantastic,” says Alan Baird, director of Plantweb & Wireless Marketing at Emerson.

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Emerson launched its wireless business in the Middle East in 2008. Despite the good reception, Baird admits that he also encountered a certain caution amongst end users. “The Middle East and Africa is quite unique whereby they want to be very careful about new technologies,” he says.

“That’s why we tend to do a lot of showing people how it actually works, how easy it is. We find that once people start using wireless, they just keep on adding and adding.”

Baird experience is shared by his competitors. “Middle Eastern customers have a tendency to wait and watch,” says Feroz Qureshi, technical sales consultant at Honeywell.

“Not only in wireless, this is true for all technology innovations, it’s a general tendency in region. They are waiting for others to install first, so that it has been proven, then they will go and try it out.”

However, Honeywell also testify to substantial interest in their wireless products. “We are seeing a huge interest in the Middle East, and are running pilots in several countries. I have no doubt that there will be some bigger projects coming to us soon,” says Diederik Mols, EMEA business manager for industrial wireless solutions at Honeywell.

One key reason why the technology took a little longer to hit the market in the region is the need for certification needed for wireless products.

That process can take several months and even up to one year, says Mols. “A lot of things have to do with approvals,” agrees Baird.

“The local telecommunication regulatory authorities in every country in the Middle East have to give approvals because its a wireless technology.”