Tokenless pre-payment. Experience of a mains signalling based pre-payment trial in Manweb

This paper describes a tokenless pre-payment system in which credit information is transferred from a payment point to the meter by a combination of telephone and mains signalling communication media. The system has been developed by Thorn Security to a requirement specified by Manweb and is being trialed by Manweb in Crewe. The system is based upon Thorn Security´s Mainsborne remote meter reading and load management system. This system uses Mains signalling for transmission of data to and from the meter over the LV distribution system. Developed originally for remote meter reading and load management purposes the potential capability of the system to provide tokenless prepayment facilities has long been recognised but has only now been demonstrated in the adaptation now described