Liberty Lake, Wash., November 14, 2011 — Itron, Inc. announced it has been recognized with the prestigious 2011 North America Frost & Sullivan Award for Product Quality Leadership.

Frost & Sullivan Excellence in Best Practices Awards recognize companies for demonstrating achievement and performance in areas such as leadership, technological innovation, customer service and strategic product development.

The award is a recognition of Itron's accomplishments in smart metering solutions. Based on the company's best practices approach and product offering in the smart meter market, Frost & Sullivan selected Itron for the award.

"Itron's unique, highly-adaptable, open-architecture smart metering solutions rose to the top in the Product Quality Leadership category," said Frost & Sullivan Principal Consultant Farah Saeed. "Itron is leading the industry in smart metering solutions with advanced, secure network technology that caters to the unique needs of each of its customers."

The performance of Itron's smart metering solutions were benchmarked against key competitors based on criteria, including product performance, product reliability, product design, product usability and perceived value. Industry analysts compare market participants and measure performance through in-depth interviews, analysis and extensive secondary research to identify best practices in the industry.

Itron was recognized with the award during Frost & Sullivan's 2011 North American Excellence in Best Practices Awards Banquet on November 10, 2011 at the Westin La Cantera Resort in San Antonio, Texas.