Page 6 - CT Issue 21

Keys to the Smart City 5

How Mobile Operators Can
Support Smart Cities

As the ambition of smart cities grows, so the related ecosystem of
technologies and service providers expands. Although every city
is different, topographically, culturally and economically, there are
many commonalities between cities of different sizes and locations.
Cities will generally benefit from strong partnerships with companies
that have local presence, skills and knowledge. Such partnerships will
support smart cities in the long term, especially as unique local use
cases arise.

Mobile operators can be a local, knowledgeable partner to Without a holistic view, deployment flexibility is very hard to
cities and are uniquely positioned to understand both local city achieve, and services that rely on data from multiple sources
dynamics, as well as domestic and international best practices. will not necessarily be able to integrate the data together. For
They often have a commercial presence in the city, and have example, if an IT partner for a smart street lighting system is not
advanced, secure networks that are designed to scale. Mobile aligned with the provider of transportation systems, it will be
operators have experience in many different deployment models, difficult to add parking sensors to street lights, or create smart
such as smart cities-as-a-service or deployment platforms. lighting that changes with traffic flow. An integrated approach
Moreover, they can do far more than simply deploy IoT services enables new services to be added, and all the opportunities
on an ad-hoc basis, instead supporting a holistic approach that presented by IoT data to be realised. Mobile operators are able to
allows the city to identify pain points and ensure that a solution take this approach, and ensure that all service providers deliver on
covers multiple services. Once connectivity and power are in place, the same core technologies and strategy. Moreover, operators can
an enormous number of sensors can be connected and services help the city measure key performance indicators that will enable
deployed. These sensors generate vast amounts of data, and the city to gauge acceptance of new services and benchmark itself
mobile operators are well placed to capture this data and integrate against other cities, so deployments can be tweaked and changed
it with other sources to provide a single view of the city. to maintain satisfaction.

The main challenge of the smart city is the ability to truly transform data exchange by creating
values for city managers for industrial operators in the city and especially for the citizens
themselves. This requires a communications infrastructure and secure collection and processing
of data, while being open and able to act as a marketplace. Orange has been recognized as being
capable of providing this architecture by several French regions and energy operators.

Francois Richard, Smart Cities Director of Partnerships and Regulation, Orange