Techno-Economic Analysis of the NB-IoT Network Planning for Smart Metering Services in Urban Area

Abstract

Currently, energy monitoring activities in Indonesia are still carried out manually for gas, electricity, and water. However, there is a weakness in manual monitoring; the data cannot be processed in real-time, unlike Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI). This study aims to prepare a techno-economic analysis of AMI's network planning using Narrow Band Internet of Things (NB-IoT) technology with its characteristics of low-frequency bands and low costs in one of the highest traffic and populated urban area and the capital city of West Sumatra, namely Padang city, Indonesia. Initially, the preparation of the NB-IoT network on AMI's services will be carried out for the next ten years using coverage and capacity calculations. The obtained sites were seven for capacity and three for coverage. Then the results are simulated using Atoll software and later accompanied by the techno-economic analysis for NB-IoT planning in Padang city. It is found that the signal received is −105 dBm, with throughput 295.45 kbps and Signal Noise Ratio (SNR) of −1 dB. Meanwhile, the obtained Net Present Value (NPV) is 3, 964, 863 USD, Internal Rate of Return (IRR) of 66.05 percent, Payback Period (PP) within four years, and Profitability Index (PI) of 3.395. This means that through the obtained techno-economic results, implementing NB-IoT on AMI's for smart metering services in Padang city is feasible and profitable in the long run.