As they rely on the existing mobile phone network some can’t get a signal
At my energy company Ovo’s invitation I had a smart gas/electricity meter installed last year. During the installation I asked the engineer how it worked and he replied via the mobile phone network. I suggested to him that it would not work because it would not receive a mobile signal where the meter was being located, but he continued to install the meter.
Sure enough, over the next year Ovo did not receive regular readings from the meter and it took a year for its customer service team to fully admit the problem. They suggested installing an aerial and then withdrew the suggestion because, apparently, an aerial would not solve the problem. The inadequacies of the mobile network mean I am not the only person who has an expensive smart meter which does not work, and I am sure this is a general problem for the industry. You have to wonder what’s going on? TM, Herefordshire