Vodafone is to become a global provider of managed IoT connectivity for Philips Lighting. Under the agreement, the two companies will provide to city authorities smart street lighting systems that will be connected wirelessly to save energy and increase maintenance efficiency.
The Philips CityTouch street lighting management system will use Vodafone’s machine-to-machine (M2M) network to connect individual light points. Every connected street lamp will contain a Vodafone M2M SIM enabling city authorities to monitor and manage lighting. According to Vodafone the system will enable engineers to check performance, identify faults and control the lighting remotely.
CityTouch is billed as “an end-to-end street lighting management system that integrates connected devices and specialised services to transform cities’ lighting operations. Philips claims that typically an additional 30-40 percent energy savings above the savings made by using LED lighting can be made because the connected lights can be dimmed or turned up as required.
Real-time information on the status of each light point is relayed to the operator who can schedule crews to a precise location, instead of them driving around in search of faulty lights. When a Vodafone enabled light is installed it will automatically start transmitting over the Vodafone network.
Bill Bien, SVP, head of strategy and marketing, at Philips Lighting said: ”Just less than 12 percent of the world’s street lights are LED and less than two percent are connected. We are at the start of a new era that will see highly energy efficient connected street lighting become the backbone of most smart cities.
Vodafone has mobile operations in 26 countries and partners with mobile networks in 57 more. However it is not a partner with Jasper, which provides connectivity for SIMs issued by one partner in multiple countries around the world.
