Itron and AT&T Business Expand Connectivity for Water and Gas Utilities Using LTE-M Network

Itron and AT&T Business said they are expanding a partnership aimed at improving how water and gas utilities connect equipment and systems in the field. The companies’ announcement centers on communications flexibility, with Itron’s gas and water solutions integrated with AT&T’s nationwide LTE-M network, a form of cellular connectivity designed for low-power, wide-area industrial and utility use cases.

In practical terms, the companies are positioning the integration as a way for utilities to maintain reliable communications across distributed assets, rather than relying on a single connectivity approach. AT&T Business’s LTE-M coverage is intended to support ongoing device connectivity for applications that can be challenging to reach with traditional wired infrastructure.

Itron, which supplies technology for managing and monitoring utility services, is bringing its gas and water solutions into the expanded connectivity effort. AT&T Business is supplying the underlying cellular network capabilities through its nationwide LTE-M network, which is designed to serve devices that need to send small amounts of data over long periods.

The announcement emphasizes “resilient” connectivity, implying that utilities can better withstand disruptions in communications by using a cellular network approach tailored for machine-to-machine and utility deployments. The companies did not provide additional operational details in the published post, such as which specific Itron modules are included or how utilities would configure the integrated offering in day-to-day deployments.

For utilities, reliable field connectivity matters because meter and sensor data supports everything from billing accuracy to outage detection and maintenance planning. In water and gas networks, where infrastructure is spread across cities, suburbs, and rural areas, communications reliability can affect both operational responsiveness and compliance with monitoring expectations.

More broadly, the announcement fits a continuing telecom-and-utility trend: replacing or supplementing older connectivity methods with standardized cellular technologies. LTE-M, in particular, is commonly used for long-lived devices that require dependable coverage and efficient power consumption.

What was not disclosed in the published report includes key commercial terms and customer scope. The post did not name specific utility customers, geographic launch locations, contract values, or the timeline for broader availability of the integrated solution.

Still, the companies’ focus on integrating Itron’s water and gas solutions with AT&T’s nationwide LTE-M network suggests they are trying to make it easier for utilities to deploy connected infrastructure with a single, scalable connectivity layer, while preserving enough flexibility to meet different deployment needs.