Alcatel-Lucent Enables the 'Smart Grid' to be Smarter with Purpose-built IP/MPLS Solutions12/6/2012 - Much of the attention on smart grids has been focused on such things as the deployment of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI), issues surrounding eco-sustainability and the overall benefits of smart grids to utilities and customers alike. This has meant that the thing that makes the smart grid "smart," its underlying communications infrastructure, tends to take a back seat. With the announcement from Alcatel-Lucent of the addition to its 7705 Service Aggregation Router family of two new IP/MPLS routers, the 7705 SAR-H and 7705 SAR-W, built specifically to for the unique challenges of electric utilities as they move to make their networks "smart" end-to-end, all of that is about to change. Why so?