## 1 Introduction  
A neutral grid represents a hypothetical concept and a theoretical extension of smart grid technologies, incorporating machine learning capabilities and advanced artificial intelligence [1]. Its main objectives are sustainable energy integration, advanced energy management capabilities for consumers, energy data security, and real-time data prediction. To achieve these objectives, it is needed to collect data related to many operations such as production, storage, consumption, distribution, and transmission of electricity relying on its communication infrastructure. Accordingly, communication infrastructure of the smart grid must cover a very large geographical area, which may range from distant production sites to overcrowded residential areas, namely buildings and houses. For smart metering applications, such as smart home/building, energy management, grid monitoring, and integration of renewable energy sources (RES), several communication technologies can be employed, such as NB-PLC [2], BB-PLC [3], Zigbee [4], LTE, UMTS [5], GSM, WiFi, etc. [6; 7]. Table 1 provides an overview of the most used and suitable wired and wireless technologies for low-voltage (LV) smart metering applications. Among the available technologies, NB-PLC for wired and RF mesh for wireless technologies demonstrate significant promise for efficiently allocating energy resources in smart metering applications. The choice between RF and NB-PLC depends on factors such as coverage requirements, environmental conditions, interference levels, and specific application needs within the smart grid domain. However, despite their cost-effectiveness for advanced metering infrastructure (AMI) applications, NB-PLC and wireless channels present challenges in terms of reliability and overall communication system performance. This paper focuses on investigating the communication between the data concentrator (DC) and the smart meter (SM) in three selected areas: rural, urban, and industrial. To address this objective, the authors engage in standardization efforts, considering two solutions: (1) incorporating functioning standards into the existing electricity grid with necessary modifications, and (2) developing new communication protocols tailored to the communication requirements of the smart grid. For wireless links, IEEE 802.15.4g [8] and IEEE 802.11 ah [9] can be used. In this paper, the authors choose the IEEE 802.15.4g standard. In fact, the wireless communication standard Wi-SUN (wireless smart utility network) enables seamless connectivity between smart grid devices and can be implemented with extremely low levels of power consumption compared to other wireless communications. Its physical layer is based on the IEEE 802.15.4g technology operation in the 863 MHz-870 MHz ISM band. Moreover, Wi-SUN allows utilities to monitor and control the electrical grid more efficiently, leading to improved energy management and reliability. It supports mesh networking, allowing devices to communicate with each other via multiple paths. However, in some cases, long-range and licensed standards can be used to obtain a higher data rate and lower latency for some types of collection of critical data between smart meters and data concentrator. Sometimes, a mix between Wi-SUN and LTE-M can be offered as in smart city street lighting, where integrating the two standards can provide a robust communication network for managing and controlling streetlights [10]. On the one hand, the deployment of Wi-SUN creates a local mesh network for communication between streetlights. On the other hand, the use of LTE-M for backhaul communication allows to remotely control streetlights in less