By James Blackman

A smart cities story, which is really only about extending mobile broadband coverage; UK-based shared infrastructure provider Freshwave Group is working with operator Virgin Media O2 and media company Clear Channel to connect London bus stops, to provide LTE network densification for mobile operators and mobile customers. The trio have installed LTE small cells in bus shelters in Tower Hamlets, north of the river and east of the city centre in London.

Freshwave and Clear Channel said they collaborated to devise a solution to integrate consumer-oriented LTE or 5G into bus shelters. The result, they said, is a new service offer for mobile operators – to be extended to end users by “any infrastructure-as-a-service provider” – to increase local network capacity using existing street assets. Virgin Media O2 is renting the Clear Channel bus shelters in Tower Hamlets, to extend and densify LTE coverage.

There is no pure-play ‘smart city’ angle, as yet; no IoT sensors have been added to the mix for municipal usage. But the possibility to provide localised smart city services, such as environmental or security monitoring, remains a scenario, presumably, whether offered to cities by Freshwave and Clear Channel directly, or via Virgin Media O2. As it stands, the initiative offers “new ways of using existing street assets for hosting mobile equipment,” said the group.

Freshwave Group, relatively new on the UK telecoms scene, backed by UK investment firm Digital Colony, is seeking to combine telecoms expertise and real-estate savvy to plug coverage gaps in public mobile coverage with shared and private networking. It is targeting enterprises and cities, as they seek to leverage new data traffic from traditional and non-traditional connected devices to drive digital change.

It has suggested the UK mobile market, particularly for enterprise customers, has been undermined by the “aggressive, self-interested commercial approach” of incumbent infrastructure providers, upon which UK mobile operators EE, Vodafone, O2, and Three have depended. Freshwave Group claims to have “6,000-plus mast site locations, 2,000-plus buildings connected, and 200-plus outdoor networks supported.”

Clear Channel manages the bus shelters, as a provider of out-of-home infrastructure for marketing and advertising purposes. The small cells can be upgraded to 5G. LTE will be added to more bus shelters in the borough “in the coming months”, they said. “Using existing street assets, as opposed to building new assets, not only makes it faster and easier for the mobile operators to enhance their networks, it also reduces the amount of clutter on the streets.”

A statement said: Busy areas such as high streets, where bus shelters are already providing an essential public service, place greater demand on networks as more people are trying to use the mobile signal from the same macrocell. Outdoor small cells immediately increase access to top speeds and capacity in the area around them, making it easier for people to connect.

Chief executive at Freshwave, Simon Frumkin said: “Smart cities and towns need new approaches to digital connectivity. And the more existing street assets that can be used to bring this to our towns, the better it is for both the mobile network operators and the customers and communities they serve. This is why we’re already working on a multi-operator, multi-technology design for bus shelter use too.”

Co-managing director at Clear Channel UK, Will Ramage said: “We’re glad Freshwave are the first organisation to have seized this opportunity with us, and it’s been great working with the team for this pilot. Helping to provide mobile connectivity plays a big part in our Platform for Good commitment to the public, and we’re excited to support this technology in lots of other communities around the UK.”

Outdoor small cell and micro-cell delivery lead at Virgin Media O2, Pete Hollebon said: “Collaboration with partners such as Freshwave and Clear Channel is crucial to delivering the best possible network experience for our customers. This industry-first achievement provides us with new options when it comes to our continual network improvements and we’re looking forward to adding the technology to further sites.” https://enterpriseiotinsights.com