Research company Berg Insight says the number of smart electricity meters installed around the world will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 31.1% to reach 302.5 million in 2015. Penetration rates for smart meters are expected to increase from today's 15–20% in Europe and North America to nearly 50%. It says many markets will approach 100% penetration by 2020.
Tobias Ryberg, the author of the report, said "Smart metering is now a globally accepted mature mainstream technology. All over the world we can see how IT and telecommunication has transformed the metering industry from a business of mechanical devices and manual labour to an arena for state-of-the-art technology in everything from wireless networking to data warehousing and complex system integration."
We looked at the future of smart metering in the UK last month; click here for our special feature.