The company was selected by CGI Group, in an LED replacement contract run by Amey. The deployment is already underway and is expected to be completed by the end of 2020.
Telensa’s wireless central management system (CMS), Telensa PLANet enables centralised control of the city’s lighting. It consists of wireless nodes that use Telensa UNB (ultra-narrow band), the company’s own low power wide area (LPWA) technology running on licence-exempt spectrum, to connect individual lights, and a central management application.
PLANet provides real-time monitoring to identify and track faults, which is expected to cut the number of residents' complaints about broken street lights and remove the need for street lighting staff to undertake night-time patrols to identify faulty lights. It also measures actual energy consumption, submitting information directly to the meter administrator and increasing the accuracy of energy billing.
Telensa states that the system will pay for itself in reduced energy and maintenance costs, improves quality of service, and enables streetlight poles to act as hubs for smart city sensors. The company has connected more than 1.5 million lights to date. The company is based in Cambridge and manufactures with Sony UK Tech at Pencoed in Wales. It is a founding member of ETSI’s City Digital Profile (CDP) accelerating the delivery of integrated citizen services and provide a technology road map for city leaders who will benefit from standardized solutions from their suppliers.
Transport and environment convener, councillor Lesley Macinnes, said: “We are rolling out energy efficient street lights with smart remote controls to communities right across the Capital, starting this summer and continuing on a ward-by-ward basis until the end of 2020. We're making every effort to minimise disruption to residents and businesses throughout and will target information to communities as the roll-out comes to their area.”
“We are working with our partners in Edinburgh to deliver an efficient and smart street lighting control system, one that will be responsive to citizens’ needs for decades to come,” said Will Gibson, founder and chief commercial officer at Telensa. “We’re looking forward to working together build a new generation of smart city applications, all enabled by the city’s lighting network.”
“We are delighted to be working with Telensa to unlock the efficiency gains and smart city potential of connected street lighting,” said Justene Ewing, VP consulting services and partnership director for CGI at the City of Edinburgh Council. “This project is another step in our long-term digital transformation of public services throughout Edinburgh.”
