Street furniture is the new telephone pole.

Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video

June 30, 2017

4 Min Read
Bright Lights, Smart City: A 'Street Furniture' Exploration

There are a couple of terms now showing up more frequently in the smart city lexicon. One of them is "wayfinding," as in how digital kiosks can help citizens and tourists "wayfind" their way around a city.*

Another is street furniture, a term for shared, multipurpose public objects that can also be used for telecom attachments.

At the Smart Cities Connect Expo last week, there were an abundance of digital kiosks and streetlights on display, all promising to deliver WiFi, host environmental sensors, provide small cell support and create a foundation for future fog computing. (See Smart Cities See Fog Rolling In.)

Figure 1: Echelon showed off its smart streetlight solution. Echelon showed off its smart streetlight solution.

There was something of a new-gadget feel to the demos, with a hint that these installations could revolutionize smart cities the way the iPhone (now ten years old!) revolutionized smartphones.

Figure 2: Smartlink's digital kiosk was one of many at the Smart Cities Connect conference. Smartlink's digital kiosk was one of many at the Smart Cities Connect conference.

However, behind the scenes, there was also evidence of major civic and policy debates underway. Who should own these assets? How should the wireless connections they provide be backhauled? And what aesthetic control should cities exercise over their deployment?

Take the city of Aurora, Colo. CIO Aleta Jeffress noted on a panel that Aurora has decided to buy back its own streetlights from the energy company that currently owns them. Why? Not only is it more cost effective for the government to manage them, but the city will be able to determine how those light poles are used for wireless networking going forward. (Think small cell pole attachment fees.)

For more broadband market coverage and insights, check out our dedicated Gigabit/Broadband content channel here on Light Reading.

With kiosks, the debate also extends to whether cities want an advertising model to subsidize their wireless infrastructure. The famous LinkNYC deployment now includes hundreds of ad-funded kiosks around New York City providing free WiFi. The hardware company behind the rollout, Civiq Smartscapes, already has a second generation of its kiosk available and has sold more of the units to additional cities including London, Dallas, San Antonio and Miami.

Figure 3: Civiq Smartscapes demoed its second-generation Link kiosk. Civiq Smartscapes demoed its second-generation Link kiosk.

On the other hand, Philadelphia CIO Charlie Brennan said at an event recently that he's not interested in using advertising to support smart city applications and IoT connectivity. He'd rather form other types of partnerships that benefit both vendors and the city -- perhaps focusing on an exchange of resources, or providing a way for the city to earn back revenue after investing in the necessary equipment. (See also Comcast Opens Up on Smart Cities & machineQ.)

Regardless of what business models win out, it's clear we're going to see a lot more street furniture coming soon. For wayfinding, WiFi and more, scan below to see pics of the telecom poles of the future.

Figure 4: AT&T was a major sponsor of the Smart Cities Connect event. AT&T was a major sponsor of the Smart Cities Connect event.

  Figure 5: HP's smart streetlamp is a virtual carousel of lights. HP's smart streetlamp is a virtual carousel of lights.

 

Figure 6: I like Ike! Another smart city digital display. I like Ike! Another smart city digital display.

 

Figure 7: Look! Wayfinding! Look! Wayfinding!

 

Figure 8: A close-up on use cases for the Civiq Smartscapes Link. A close-up on use cases for the Civiq Smartscapes Link.

*Editor's Note: I'm convinced the Disney movie Moana had a hand in popularizing '"wayfinding." Cute Hawaiian girl learns wayfinding from flawed demigod en route to saving her people from natural disaster. Now the word is everywhere.

— Mari Silbey, Senior Editor, Cable/Video, Light Reading

About the Author(s)

Mari Silbey

Senior Editor, Cable/Video

Mari Silbey is a senior editor covering broadband infrastructure, video delivery, smart cities and all things cable. Previously, she worked independently for nearly a decade, contributing to trade publications, authoring custom research reports and consulting for a variety of corporate and association clients. Among her storied (and sometimes dubious) achievements, Mari launched the corporate blog for Motorola's Home division way back in 2007, ran a content development program for Limelight Networks and did her best to entertain the video nerd masses as a long-time columnist for the media blog Zatz Not Funny. She is based in Washington, D.C.

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