At the Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2014, Ericsson and Royal Philips launched a new connected LED street lighting model.
Philips and Ericsson combine the benefits of mobile connectivity and LED lighting in a ”lighting-as-a-service” model for cities. It allows city authorities to offer space within their connected lighting poles to network service providers for mobile broadband infrastructure.
Called “Zero Site” by Ericsson and announced at the MWC 2014 in Barcelona, the connected lighting solution integrates telecom equipment into light poles enabling telecom operators to improve mobile network performance while reducing urban clutter.
Citizens will benefit from improved mobile network coverage for data communications and enhanced safety with brighter, well lit streets.
Ericsson New connected street lighting model solves two issues simultaneously: offering city officials an innovative way to afford next generation energy efficient LED lighting to meet sustainability goals, and enabling network operators to offer improved city-wide mobile broadband and app coverage.
City populations grow by 7,500 people per hour and mobile data traffic is expected to grow ten times by 2019, increasing the need for sustainable lighting and enhanced mobile capacity and coverage in cities.
Philips will now offer cities LED street lighting that can include mobile telecoms equipment from Ericsson.
Mobile operators working with Ericsson for mobile broadband infrastructure will be able to rent space in the poles.
In this way, mobile network operators will be able to improve data coverage and capacity for citizens, resulting in enhanced mobile broadband services. The model also accelerates the payback time for city infrastructure, by making the up-front costs of installing and managing these systems more affordable, so reducing the strain on city budgets.
Philips LED street lighting can generate energy savings of 50 to 70 percent, with savings reaching 80 percent when coupled with smart controls – as validated by a study conducted by The Climate Group in 12 of the world’s largest cities.
Ericsson President and CEO Hans Vestberg said: “This Zero Site solution is the kind of innovation that offers a way for people to succeed in the Networked Society.”