MegaFon launches Russian accounting system in housing and public utilities

The topic of housing and public utilities is generally recognized as one of the most difficult to reform and far from innovation. However, MegaFon decided to change this. Megalabs , the innovation center of MegaFon, launches an absolutely unique for Russia service in the housing and utilities sector: “Resource under control”. The project has already been launched in Moscow and the Moscow region, and since September it will be expanded to the whole territory of Russia.

In a nutshell: MegaFon daily collects and processes data from all heat, water and light meters remotely, giving payers the ability to monitor them and pay online. Due to this, such a procedure as meter reading is becoming a thing of the past, and with it a number of important tasks are being solved, which ultimately make it possible to finally start saving money on bills for an apartment - which is especially important lately.

How it works

“Resource under control” consists of actual meters, channel-forming equipment - communication lines, modems, routers, and databases and application software.
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The partner of MegaLabs is the integrator company “Center for the Development of Automation Tools” ( CRSA ), which has extensive experience in the implementation of automated energy control and accounting systems (AMR). MegaFon provides delivery, collection, central processing of data and resources to scale the project on a federal scale.

First of all, counters are installed in the subscriber’s apartment or private house. At the same time, the replacement of already installed metering devices is not necessary, provided that they are in working condition, they have not expired verification period, and there are pulse outputs for connecting transceiver equipment.

In such cases, MegaFon installs only transceiver equipment that, via various interfaces - wired / wireless or via a PLC power network, transmit data to the channel-forming equipment, which is installed, for example, in the attic, in the basement or in the control room of an apartment building. In the case of the private sector, usually at a transformer substation.


Placement of equipment in the control room of an apartment building. Modem - in the upper left corner

There, among other equipment, modems with MegaFon SIM cards are installed. Once a day or more often (for industrial enterprises), the equipment transmits consumption data through a dedicated APN access point via a VPN channel within the MegaFon network to the MegaFon server in the data center (Tier III reliability according to TIA-942), where processing information and transferring it to the user's personal account page. The system is completely closed from outside influence.

The Internet is used only by clients to access the web-based interface or their personal account on a computer, laptop, tablet or other mobile device, where the already collected and processed information is displayed.

Already from the data center, this information is sent to various consumers: billing systems, management companies, power sales organizations, industrial enterprises, which, along with private users, get access to a personal account on the site resurs.megafon.ru , which allows you to monitor your consumption and history on a daily basis spending resources, making payments, asking questions, etc.

Fight against "loss" of resources

Electricity is "lost" in two ways: natural loss and banal theft. Electricity losses during transmission do not exceed 4–5%, but the total losses reach 30–40%, and the difference between these two indicators is theft by illegal connection to the grid or “twisting” the meters.

The “TsRSA” company works with the best domestic suppliers of metering devices supporting various technologies of protection against theft of electricity. I will tell about how it works, on the example of the counters of the Moscow-based company " Matrix ":



The magnet sensor protects against the popular method of twisting the counters with the help of powerful magnets. Reacting to a magnetic field, he sends a signal to the data center about an attempt to "twist".
Differential current sensor that notes the difference between incoming and returning current. If this difference is not equal to zero, then the counter can turn off the subscriber or signal an accident to the center.


Seals and sensors protect the counter from opening

In the private sector, the meter is installed outside the household, making it difficult to connect to the network bypassing the meter - this is just too noticeable.

Thanks to the continuous dispatch of balances on the entrance, house, feeder, etc. the thefts are detected almost immediately in a remote mode, therefore, in the Resource under Control system, the loss of electricity is reduced to the most natural 4-5%.

Unlike electricity, problems with underpayment for water usually result from meter malfunction and improper filling of receipts with subscribers. In such houses, the readings of the general-purpose metering device disagree with the total indicators of water meters.
This difference in readings is covered by bona fide subscribers who pay in addition to their consumption also these losses, which can be up to 50% of his account.

“Resource under control” allows you to simplify data collection: there is no need to enter the apartment to subscribers for visual readings, as well as to reduce balances for home and apartment meters, which allows to detect emergencies, real losses (breaks in engineering networks, unauthorized water withdrawal etc.). As a result, the problem of incorrect filling of receipts is solved, and most importantly, there is no longer any need to pay for water “for myself and for that guy”, because there simply cannot be an unaccounted water consumption in our system. Resource under control!

The third important component of energy consumption control is heat supply. Here the main problem lies, first of all, in the absence of apartment heat meters and the ability to regulate its flow. Often, during the heating season, residents have to open windows in order to maintain a comfortable temperature in the apartment, and, accordingly, pay for the surplus.
Installing a system of general heat metering with an automated control unit allows you to regulate the flow of heat to the apartments in accordance with the temperature outside. Fine-tuning is carried out by installing an apartment heat metering system together with individual thermostats, which helps reduce consumption.


The heat sensor is attached to the battery.

In the dry residue

For ordinary utility subscribers, i.e. you and me

• Convenience. Even in such a conservative industry as utilities, it is possible to organize control and payment services online. The subscriber no longer even needs to see the counter. "Resource under control" allows you to pay all utility costs, and not just water, heat and light, online.
• Savings: for example, sensors of heat and volume, taking into account the subscriber's consumption of heat, allow the average apartment to save about 300 rubles per month, which guarantees a return on their installation for 2 years. Multi-tariff electricity meters allow you to optimize the cost of light.
• Transparency. Access in a personal account to information about consumption allows the subscriber to be sure what he pays for.
• Security. In the future, along with accounting systems, subscribers will also be offered security systems that turn off the water supply in the apartment if a leak is detected. And now, being on the edge of the world and having a smartphone or tablet in our hands, we can see the daily consumption schedule through the browser in our personal account and be calm if there are no surges on it.

All data - in your account, from any device, anywhere

A separate list of benefits "Resource under control" suggests for management companies and the HOA:

1. Reduced energy losses
2. Reducing the cost of staff and equipment for database maintenance and billing systems. The proposed billing system is fully integrated with automated energy accounting systems, and fully complies with Russian legislation in the field of housing and public utilities.
3. Simplify the work of the crawlers due to the ability to detect emergencies, leaks or illegal selection of energy resources remotely.
4. Reduction in the number of debtors due to the possibility of remotely disconnecting or limiting electricity supply subscribers on the one hand, and increasing the collection of payments due to the use of a convenient personal account by citizens on the other.
5. Increased consumer confidence through the participation of an independent certified automated system.
6. Minimizing claims by citizens as a summary of all the above.

How to connect

In Europe, energy accounting operators have been working very successfully: companies such as Techem in Germany are the largest billing and energy service operator or the municipal operator Enel in Italy, which has installed more than 25 million metering devices for each of its customers. However, they are in no hurry to enter our market for a number of reasons, including the opacity of the housing and utilities structures themselves, the complexity of the legislation, the mentality, corruption and the lack of a culture of energy consumption. Therefore, “Resource under control” is an absolutely unique offer for our market. This is the case when changes are beneficial to everyone: the end user and the industry as a whole.

Probably, you have already understood that the Resource Under Control will not come to a separate apartment, because This is a complex system that requires the full connection of the object - all apartments in the house, or all areas in the CNT, for example.

The direct client of the Resource Under Control can only be the managing company (HOA, SNT) connecting all the apartments in the house, however, the decision to introduce homeowners and non-residential premises (final consumers) who can accept it at meetings or on the basis of surveys tenants. Then you contact your management company, obliging it to implement our system.
A potential customer or a meeting of tenants can immediately calculate the cost of the project for their homes both in the private sector and in the apartment building, thanks to the project calculator :



In September, “Resource under Control” goes to the federal level, therefore, it will be possible to specify the possibility and conditions for connection in any region of Russia.