Ericsson has been announcing a string of contracts to support smart meter networks, the latest with Skagerak Nett, a utility in Norway. With 180,000 meters, such a deployment is small fry compared to the smartphone networks the Swedish vendor rolls out, but it has good reason to boast of its conquests with the energy providers. The move by many countries to initiate smart meter programs has been a significant catalyst for the LPWA (low power wide area) networks market, which is now becoming a hotbed of competition between different connectivity technologies. With specialized offerings like LoRa, Sigfox and Weightless all engaged in standards activity and heading towards licensed spectrum, Ericsson is on a mission to prove that cellular solutions –…