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As organisations expand across the world, remote monitoring is quickly becoming a necessity. Governments and private businesses alike are finding more and more advantages to remote monitoring through the Internet of Things (IoT) every day. Smart farms can monitor stock, harvest and resource figures, while remote power stations and broadcasting towers can be operated on and optimised from far off locations.

One such organisation that is experiencing the advantages of remote monitoring is the Consorzio di Bonifica delle Marche, a public entity responsible for the operations and safety of waterways in the Marche region of Italy. By using Eutelsat’s satellite solutions, the Consorzio di Bonifica delle Marche gained 99% network availability in a region where other connectivity solutions simply did not work.

This is the story of how an Italian public entity managed to connect, optimise and operate their remote operations in a region notorious for poor connectivity by using today’s advanced satellite solutions.

The Consorzio di Bonifica delle Marche (lit. Marche Land Reclamation Consortium) is a public entity responsible for managing remote irrigation systems, securing rivers and developing public works across the Marche region. The Consorzio is in charge of the day-to-day management of water resources and the prevention of water-related disasters such as floods. They are also concerned with optimising the use of water, dams and water tanks for the irrigation of cultivated land and the production of electrical energy throughout the region.

Marche is a small region of Central Italy, stretching on the Adriatic sea, bordered west by the better known Umbria and Tuscany. It has historically been difficult to establish reliable connectivity throughout the region as it consists mostly of hills and mountains, with only the coast being flat. Terrestrial communication solutions such as fibre, DSL and cellular have proven to be unreliable, with ‘not-spots’ where a signal doesn’t reach or drops altogether.  In addition to this, the geographical morphology and difficult terrain of the region combined with the required frequency of transmission made it impossible to just rely on technicians to collect the data that is so essential for the Consorzio di Bonifica delle Marche.

The public entity needed to receive a set of critical parameters continuously while transmitting instructions at the same time. They needed to control the water levels of dams, release water when needed, start and stop irrigation systems and control weather conditions throughout the entire region, including the most remote locations. To achieve this, Consorzio Marche required an automated system that could handle multiple tasks at once while guaranteeing optimal coverage of Marche with high reliability and stability.

Icarusnet is a well-known Italian company providing customised satellite solutions for monitoring, video surveillance and remote control, particularly in the energy sector. Established since 1999, Icarusnet has recognised expertise in satellite solutions and in the integration of different technologies. Consorzio Marche approached Icarusnet to find them a solution for the challenging Marche region.

After assessing the challenges that Consorzio Marche faced, Icarusnet developed an IoT solution that integrates satellite to terrestrial connectivity solutions through Eutelsat’s first remote managed IP-based solution for businesses, IoT FIRST. By leveraging Eutelsat’s satellite technology, Icarusnet was able to guarantee total coverage of the territory with a 99% network availability rate. The solution powered by IoT FIRST was perfectly suited to connect and exchange data between the remote operations that Consorzio Marche dealt with on a daily basis with the same level of quality in all points of coverage - no matter how remote the location.

The solution is one that could only be accomplished by the use of satellite connectivity. The monitoring sites in Marche send critical data collected from sensors directly to IoT terminals. From these terminals, it’s transmitted via satellite to Eutelsat’s teleport in France that hosts the routers maintained by Icarusnet. From this location, the data is sent to the headquarters and local offices of Consorzio Marche where their own unit enables them to control the network and each operational site in Marche. Thanks to advanced routing features from IoT FIRST, every remote device connected locally to the terminal is directly accessible with its own IP address. This creates a truly seamless and transparent experience in terms of technology.

With IoT FIRST terminals deployed to connect 37 sites in Marche, Consorzio Marche gained the ability to give inputs to assets to open or close valves, change the configuration of equipment, monitor up-to-the-minute readings and otherwise optimise and run their operations remotely. IoT FIRST has enabled them to collect up to 50 key parameters related to water quality, level, temperature, speed and weather conditions as well as operating parameters related to the production and consumption of electricity.

Since implementing Icarusnet’s IoT FIRST solution through Eutelsat, the Consorzio di Bonifica delle Marche has expressed complete satisfaction with the service. “IoT FIRST gives us the control we always wanted over our operations in Marche.” says Mr. Apolloni, the Field Operations Manager of the Consorzio. “Through a single interface, we’re able to monitor a multitude of figures while making adjustments as needed in all of our sites across the region immediately. It has revolutionised the way we operate in Marche.”

As of writing, the Consorzio di Bonifica delle Marche has plans to expand the solution to twenty more remote sites across Marche. Icarusnet, for whom Consorzio Marche is the first IoT FIRST customer, plans to propose the solution to monitor other facilities such as electroducts and for environmental protection. “IoT FIRST has proven to be flexible, easy to work with and reliable for our customers,” notes Mr. Fabrizio Carletta, Head of Operations for Icarusnet. “We are confident that IoT FIRST can introduce many opportunities for our other customers across Europe.”

Eutelsat’s satellite solutions such as IoT FIRST are rapidly changing the way businesses and public entities connect to their remote assets. It is revolutionizing the way we think about connectivity across countries, continents and borders. If you would like to find out more about Eutelsat IoT FIRST, visit our website, or contact us to find out how we can help optimise your communications and connectivity, today.