American Tower Corp. and Philips Lighting have announced an alliance to accelerate the digital transformation of urban spaces and the adoption of smart city services in the U.S. The companies are developing a collocation ready, 4G/5G enabled LED smart light pole for use in roadways, streets and parking lots that will improve wireless broadband access in urban areas while also providing energy-efficient connected LED lighting.
“As the demand for wireless broadband continues to grow in urban centers, wireless carriers need a repeatable, scalable way to densify networks fast,” says Steven Marshall, president U.S. Tower, a division of American Tower Corp. “Our alliance with Philips Lighting brings wireless carriers access to pre-approved sites, with a smart pole that blends into urban locations, delivering wireless broadband hidden in plain sight.”
According to Strategies Unlimited 2, less than 1 percent of the more than 44 million light poles on U.S. streets and roadways, are connected. The smart pole is designed to take advantage of a city’s existing real estate and collocate services from multiple wireless carriers in a single pole. Cities are adopting smart city technology to improve the safety and quality of life for citizens and businesses. Smart poles are designed to help them deliver future digital applications including, enhanced emergency services; acoustic sensing; air quality monitoring and autonomous vehicle navigation, to name a few.
“Lighting is a part of the urban landscape and an asset to help accelerate cities’ digital transformation,” says Olivia Qiu, chief innovation officer at Philips Lighting. “Combining Philips Lighting connected LED street lighting with American Tower shared infrastructure expertise will help speed up the ability of a city to deploy technologies that improve public safety and civic services. This alliance will support the growth of our street lighting business in this market.”
The design of the smart pole will incorporate a range of technological capabilities into a form that blends into a variety of different cityscapes. Equipped with a fully integrated antenna, the smart pole will collocate multiple wireless carriers in a single structure and can accommodate a variety of radio configurations from various major OEMs. Multiple wireless carriers can install radio equipment including 4G and 5G small cell radio equipment with the plug-n-play design, all without adding urban clutter, changing the city landscape, or affecting the aesthetics of a neighborhood. Additionally, the lighting on each smart pole can be monitored and managed remotely to optimize energy savings and reduce maintenance costs using the Philips CityTouch connected street lighting management system.