Smart Grid an Unexpected Boon to Telco's

It was good to read, the other day, about the integration of yet another group of players into the Smart Grid universe: The Telco's. I had bumped into a very interesting article on the mixing of Power and Communication networks at Telephony Online. As the Internet was developing, the shining lights who were attempting to secure the early networks and systems of the Internet age were most often employees of the rapidly growing community of Internet Service Providers, and many were employees of the backbone providers (initially the telco's).

There have been multiple announcements and articles about these new linkages in the past few months, like this announcement from AT&T, this second piece in Telephony Online magazine, and this article about the new FCC interest in Smart Grid/Meter backhaul.

As we talk through the coming culture clash between ordinary IT and Utility IT, it is very reassuring to know that there may soon be pressure building for good security from the IT security experts within the major telco partners for backhaul, billing, equipment provision, etc.

I am hoping that we see these providers demand the same kind of security from the Utility connection partners as they have demanded from their partners on the Internet side of the business. It may provide exactly the linkage we need to have the migration we need begin to move talented people from IT to utilITies.