Sao Paulo-based water provider Sabesp awarded a contract worth BRL3.8 billion ($696 million) to a pair of Telefonica Brazil units for an NB-IoT smart water meter project claimed to be the largest in the world.

The utility company supplies water, sewage collection and treatment across 375 municipalities in the Sao Paulo area. It serves more than 28 million people.

In a translated regulatory filing, Sabesp revealed it signed a service agreement with Telefonica Brasil and its cloud affiliate in the country for the system comprising equipment, infrastructure and the underlying connectivity.

It added the smart meter project is “on a scale greater than similar initiatives known globally in the sanitation sector”.

The mammoth deal is the latest inked by an operator for use of IoT in the utilities segment, with water companies across a number of markets using connected technology for customer billing and within other parts of their businesses including leak detection.

In a corporate blog in 2024, Telefonica Tech cited internal data showing the adoption of smart meters could cut leaks by 40 per cent, cut maintenance costs and improve customer satisfaction by 60 per cent.