On the impact of virtual private network technologies on the operational costs of cellular machine-to-machine communications platforms for smart grids

Due to the fact that the information managed in the so-called Smart Grids is extremely sensitive, security is a key requirement for their wide deployment and adoption. However, the use of secure mechanisms entails not only technical costs but also economic costs. This paper discusses several protocols commonly used to establish VPN (Virtual Private Networks) and assesses the impact of using them on the operational costs of a cellular M2M (Machine-to-Machine) communications platform aiming to reduce power consumption and integrate distributed micro-generation at district level.