Smart poles are defined by ABI as “multi-functional aggregation points'' which support the deployment of ‘smart urban infrastructure’ including 5G small cells, wifi hotspots, renewable energy generation handsets, drones and charging points for electric vehicles. Key vendors in the smart pole sector already include Signify, Ubicquia, Verizon, Huawei and Nokia and ABI predicted that “more smart streetlight suppliers will venture into smart pole technologies”.
However, the report’s authors also noted that barriers slowing down smart pole adoption including sensor data privacy concerns and issues over co-ownership mean that the acceleration in smart pole installations is unlikely to begin until nearer the end of the decade.
The key finding from ABI’s Smart Poles and Street Platforms report estimated that benefits offered by smart poles in terms of cost savings, deployment time, scaling opportunities and future-proof modularity would translate into revenues amounting to $60bn by 2030.
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Dominique Bonte, vice president of end markets and verticals at ABI, said: “The relevance of smart poles for smart cities is huge. They offer an efficient, scalable, and modular framework for deploying the whole spectrum of smart urban infrastructure.
“However, the main driver behind smart pole deployments is the need for cellular network densification in the form of 5G and future 6G small cells and the use of mmWave radio spectrum. As such, the telco ecosystem is expected to at least partially fund the additional smart cities functionality embedded in smart poles.”
Major initiatives already underway in the smart pole sector include the EU’s Humble Lamppost Project as well as significant deployments by the governments of Seoul, Los Angeles, Munich, and Leuven in Belgium. In the UK, Telensa’s smart streetlight controls were deployed in 64,000 LED lights as part of the City of Edinburgh’s energy efficiency programme in 2018.
