For Large-Scale, Outdoor IoT Networks
Paves the Way to Accelerate IoT End Device Interoperability
San Ramon, CA – 1 October 2018 – The Wi-SUN Alliance, a global ecosystem of member
companies seeking to accelerate the implementation of open standards-based Field Area
Networks (FAN) and the Internet of Things (IoT), today announced its FAN Certification
Program. FAN is a communications infrastructure for very large-scale networks. In the same way
you use the Internet on a smartphone or computer, a Field Area Network lets devices
interconnect onto one common network.
The availability of the FAN Certification Program is the result of the vision, collaboration and
dedication of a number of Wi-SUN Member companies. Through the certification program, the
Wi-SUN Alliance certifies products based on their compliance to a communications profile
derived from applicable open standards and their ability to interoperate with other Wi-SUN
certified products.
The FAN Certification Program will certify devices for use by utilities, city developers and other
service providers to simplify and support large-scale, outdoor networks for smart cities, smart
utilities and other IoT rollouts – and to help reduce costs and delays. Wi-SUN members plan to
announce certified products in Q4 2018.
Proprietary systems are no longer sufficiently flexible, or as cost-effective as solutions based on
open standards, and will become less relevant within a few years. Adhering to the Wi-SUN FAN
profile based on open IEEE and IETF standards enables service providers, smart cities and
utilities to deploy adaptable multi-service networks and will help ensure interoperability, not
only today, but also for many years to come.
“Wi-SUN continues to be at the forefront of IoT innovation, and as cities, utilities and the
industry grows their IoT networks, they are increasingly recognizing that industry-wide open
standards are essential for interoperability and scalability,” says Phil Beecher, President and CEO
of the Wi-SUN Alliance. “FAN Certification is an endorsement for governments and the industry
that our members’ products are compliant to these open standards, and safeguards quality,
interoperability, security, scalability – and ultimately gives customers a competitive advantage.”
Key benefits of FAN Certification include:
- Offers utilities, cities and service providers adaptable multi-service networks that will help
ensure interoperability today and for future generations. - Reduces the time needed to evaluate new products, as behavior, performance and
interoperability are well defined. - Eliminates single-vendor lock-in.
- Encourages the development of a global ecosystem of standards-based products, reducing
the risk and costly impact of stranded assets.
All Wi-SUN certified products are rigorously tested by a certified Wi-SUN appointed third-party
test lab to ensure the devices work together effortlessly and securely for rapid time to market.
Certified devices include a digital certificate to authenticate entry to a Wi-SUN FAN network,
significantly reducing vulnerability to cyber security threats. Under a separate agreement, Wi-
SUN has selected GlobalSign to provide Certificate Authority (CA) services to Wi-SUN Alliance
member companies.
Third party comments:
Alex Davies, Senior Analyst, Rethink Technology Research and Editor of RIOT: “Open standards
are one of the surest ways to ensure mass adoption of a technology. As with WiFi and the 3GPP
cellular protocols, Wi-SUN’s FAN is delivering multiple choices for equipment and technology
suppliers to facilitate customer interest. Energy suppliers and grid operators are concerned
about vendor lock-in, particularly due to the long life cycles of their deployments. To this end,
Wi-SUN should provide an answer to their mission-critical problems that other LPWAN options
cannot. It opens the door for them to expand into other IoT markets, with smart cities a major
opportunity.”
Iker Urrutia, Manager, Smart Grids, Avangrid: “IoT networking solutions based on open
standards and certified to the Wi-SUN FAN profile will be critical in obtaining true
interoperability for utility applications, such as AMI, accelerating the digitization of the grid in a
cost effective way.”
Colton Ching, Senior Vice President of Planning & Technology at Hawaiian Electric: “We
continue to see Wi-SUN technology as a major enabler for large-scale IoT applications
throughout Hawaii with the availability of its FAN Certification Program. The Wi-SUN Alliance
and its members have taken a major step forward in bringing multi-vendor, interoperable
solutions to fruition.”
FAN Certification Availability:
The FAN Certification Program has been developed through the collaboration of Wi-SUN
member companies, including product vendors and collaborators participating in
interoperability events to prove the specifications and certification test program. The following
are among some of the companies who have been actively leading the way to certification:
Analog Devices, Cisco, EPRI, Itron, Kyoto University/Nissin Systems, Landis+Gyr, ProCubed,
Renesas and ROHM Europe.
To learn more about how to submit your products to be certified, please visit http://www.wisun.
org
Ensuring a product is compliant can be complex so the Wi-SUN Alliance is eager to help and
address any concerns. Please join Wi-SUN for an upcoming webinar on Oct 16, 2018 at 8AM PT.
In this webinar we will provide an overview of the importance of certification and how to
navigate the process to achieve FAN Certification. For more information and to register please
click here https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/9187903284805872385.
About the Wi-SUN Alliance
The Wi-SUN Alliance is a global non-profit member-based association made up of industry
leading companies. Its mission is to drive the global proliferation of interoperable wireless
solutions for use in smart cities, smart grids and other Internet of Things (IoT) applications using
open global standards from organizations, such as IEEE802, IETF, TIA, TTC and ETSI. With more
than 180 members worldwide, membership of the Wi-SUN Alliance is open to all industry
stakeholders and includes silicon vendors, product vendors, services providers, utilities,
universities, enterprises and municipalities and local government organizations.
For more information, please visit: www.wi-sun.org.
Wi-SUN Alliance and the Wi-SUN Alliance logo are trademarks of the Wi-SUN Alliance.
Media contacts:
North America
Shannon Mayette, Wi-SUN Alliance
media@wi-sun.org
Tel: +1 (602) 882-4733
UK
Amanda Hassall, Paula Averley, Louise Burke
Origin Communications
Wi-SUN@origincomms.com
Tel: +44 (0) 20 3814 2941