Building a Connected City

Getting to Smart-Connectedness

A fundamental step in transforming a city into a Smart City is to have the necessary telecommunications infrastructure. Bandwidth is the oil of the emerging Gig-Economy and connectivity is the piping carrying this essential resource. The City Networks Task Force was recently formed by the Smart City Council and the Wireless Infrastructure Association to help Cities and Communities drive the growth of Robust Network Infrastructure.

We define a Connected City as a city or community that has a network infrastructure that allows for the efficient exchange and collection of information (voice, data, video) via a variety of devices both public and private. This network infrastructure is a heterogeneous mix of network technologies (HetNet) and is supplied via a number of business models.

Smart Cities create both a policy and investment environment that facilitates the growth of telecommunications resources to enable a Connected environment. There are a limited number of stakeholders in each city and community that have developed networks.

Stakeholders that usually control the majority of network assets in a city or community include: Utilities, Cableco’s, Cellular Carriers, CLEC’s and Telephone Companies, Transportation Authorities and Public Safety Departments.

The city generally plays 3 roles in developing a Connected City since much of the investment will be borne by the Private Sector.

-Regulatory and Policy Administration

-Consumer of Network Technology

-Owner and Provider of Network Technology and Street Furniture

Many Cities struggle to ensure broadband access to all consumers. Digital Inclusion initiatives involve everything from multi-stakeholder PPP’s to the National Internet Essentials program provided by Comcast. Reaching rural communities continues to be difficult.

The primary network technologies that are utilized to build smart cities include: Cellular, Fiber Optic, Microwave and Millimeter wave, Coaxial Cable, Wi Fi and an emerging group of wireless techniques that form the Internet of Things.  5G will be a HetNet that will increase both coverage and capacity as it phases in over the next 4 to 5 years.

The City Networks Task Force will explore the technology architectures, business models, policy guidelines and roadmaps for success over for the next 1 to 5 years. We will provide a series of webinars, use cases, and events. Our next meeting will be October 3 in Washington D.C at Smart City Week.

Coming Soon:

- An overview of the New Small Cell Deployment Guidelines

-5G Skills as Economic Driver and Job Creator

-Network Technologies Overview

The Wireless Infrastructure Association has a detailed review of the network infrastructure to build a connected city here: https://wia.org/resource-library/wireless-infrastructure-as-the-foundation-of-smart-cities-and-communities/.

 More information can be found at www.citynetworkstaskforce.com www.wia.org and www.densenetworks.com For more info: info@densenetworks.com