GSA REPORT: The Central Role of Telecoms in The Smart City
A new short report from GSA “The Central Role of Telecoms in The Smart City” examines the way that communications networks are being used to underpin rapid development of smart cities. “The Central Role of Telecoms in The Smart City” report, commissioned from Innovation Observatory, argues that relationships between city authorities, communications service providers and telecom network equipment vendors are changing in response to two new drivers of smart city investment: the potential to use ‘big data’ and Internet of Things ideas, and the emergence of technologies that make it easier to create a smart city infrastructure.
The paper examines the many smart city use cases that have been developed, showing how they deliver benefits to the city, and looking at their components of cost. It also drills down into the communications–and data-layer requirements of these use cases, showing that heterogeneous networks will exist even if cities strive to deliver cross-departmental platforms for using–and monetizing–data within the city.
Report author Danny Dicks says “It is clear that many cities-not just the largest megacities-are keen to use ICT to achieve specific aims within their smart city agendas, but that they don’t always know how best to make use of the multiple networking technologies and services that can help. There is a role for service providers and vendors here, but all parties must recognise the impact of city procurement processes, and of the financial models that govern capital infrastructure and operations.”
Alan Hadden, VP of Research, GSA said “NFV, SDN and network slicing developments for 4G (LTE, LTE-Advanced), 4.5G (LTE-Advanced Pro) and 5G systems mean network operators are better able than before to tailor services to the multiple specific requirements of different smart city applications, including high-availability connections for critical applications. But it is likely, given that cities often consider building their own infrastructure, that vendors and operators will need to be flexible in the business models they suggest.”
“The Central Role of Telecoms in The Smart City” report from GSA is free to download by registered site users from www.gsacom.com
