Without a doubt, the fifth generation of cellular networks (otherwise known as 5G) is a popular topic recently. Various industries hope to use its key advantages such as high speed, low latency, great connection, etc to hasten the advent of different IoT applications, thereby resulting in successful digital transformation. Most city governments around the world also have the same grand vision as private enterprises. They all hope that 5G can be the core to promoting smart cities.
Therefore, more and more city governments want to list the smart pole as an important part of smart city construction. This is mainly because the smart pole can be equipped with multiple devices such as LED lights, cameras, electronic displays, air quality meters, emergency call, Wi-Fi Hotspot and 5G stations. The smart pole is an effective way to connect to city IoT and also the last mile to accomplishing various kinds of smart application services.
City governments just need to densely populate smart poles, stable, fast and convenient 5G network will then be built up without extra effort. Services that the smart pole can provide include lighting, security, disaster prevention, air quality monitoring, information display, and e-charging. These can all be the source of data collection for IoT, which is the core value of smart cities. 5G technology also serves as the core of diverse and innovative collaborations in enterprise private network, smart transportation, Internet of vehicles (IoV)/automated driving vehicles, drones, and smart healthcare.
According to the research results of the United Nations, 68% of the world's population will move to cities by 2050. In light of this, Chunghwa Telecom predicts that the "smart pole and IVS" service model will gain traction. Chunghwa Telecom then took the initiative as the bellwether and called upon the industry to form a team, hoping to create a comprehensive solution by integrating smart pole and intelligent video system with them, thereby seizing huge business opportunities around the globe.
Chunghwa Telecom utilizes three exclusive advantages to create the most advanced smart pole solution
CHT City Operating System (CHTCityOS) developed by Chunghwa Telecom has basic functions such as the 24/7 surveillance system which can monitor real-time incidents that occur in every corner of the city. This assists governments in gaining first hand information anytime and anywhere; meeting the requirements of citizens, households and industries much faster. This will in turn assist the mayor to improve municipal management and enhance automated processes to further boost citizen's level of satisfaction.
In addition, surveillance cameras on the smart pole will provide crucial data regarding the flow of people and vehicles for the city government to conduct comparative analysis. This can create more benefits from using "smart monitoring systems." For instance, relevant units in city governments can collect transportation information through smart poles to provide guidance and optimal route planning. At the same time, relevant units can also monitor violations in transportation regulation issues such as parking along a red line and parallel parking; thereby enforcing regulations through smart transportation and improving traffic safety. Another example is to use facial recognition technology in surveillance cameras to track lost elderly people or children. Preventing loss in the first place is the best policy.
Another point worth mentioning is that the smart pole is the carrier of much IoT information, therefore, it can simultaneously supply hotspot Open Data on air quality, noise, environment, the flow of people, the flow of vehicles etc. This not only serves as assistance to city governments to establish a complete basis for governance and decision-making, but also extends to analysis of business applications. This can then result in driving the prosperity of people's livelihood and the economy. For example, Chunghwa Telecom's smart pole solution once assisted the Taoyuan City Government by implementing many of the aforementioned applications, thereby helping Taoyuan City stand out in the Top7 Community Competition and was honored as the 2019 Intelligent Community of the Year by the Intelligent Community Forum (ICF).
Chunghwa Telecom places new cities under construction or city reconstructions in developing countries as its top priority, actively expanding and in search of smart poles and smart safety and security business opportunities. The reason is that from the point of municipal management, smart poles and smart safety and security can not only provide benefits such as saving energy but also improve living safety and convenience. Rate of return of the investment is extremely high, which is a great incentive for such countries to integrate the technology in their cities.
Chunghwa Telecom is now actively expanding into the international market, many projects have reached the negotiation stage in South East Asian countries. The telecom company will provide different smart integration solutions according to the requirements of each country or city.
To put it into context, Chunghwa Telecom has been deeply involved in overseas markets for many years and has established branches or joint ventures in many countries. These are the best beachheads for business opportunities. Hence, Chunghwa Telecom can assist enterprises from Taiwan to quickly understand local culture and market as well as finding the Local King of that place. This allows for the innovative application services developed by Taiwanese enterprises with much effort to be successfully implemented in construction blueprints of smart cities around the globe in this wave of 5G technology along with smart poles as the carrier. With a united front, Chunghwa Telecom and its partners welcome a new round of development opportunities.
Inclusive of all with coordination and management, creating diverse and convenient services for the people
Mr. Michael Chow, Director of ICT Engineering Department in International Business Group of Chunghwa Telecom, stated that to realize the establishment of smart cities, telecom infrastructure such as 4G/5G, Wi-Fi 6, NB-IoT must be popularized to further promote the development of smart services. Therefore, cities, industrial zones or free trade ports in developing countries are all well-positioned to have smart poles built in the area. With equipment such as Small Cell and Wi-Fi Hotspot, smart poles are a good foundation towards smart transformations in the area.
More importantly, not only can telecom equipment be installed on smart poles, one can also install cameras, air-quality meters, charging stations for electric vehicles, solar panels, LED street lights, and electronic displays. It is basically an "all-in-one" device with massive benefits. Whichever functions the government plans to install, the smart pole can realize all of them.
In the foreseeable future with the popularization of 5G, devices that can be installed on the smart pole will be more diverse. By then, Chunghwa Telecom's CHTCityOS platform will take the lead to be the back-end mechanism for operation and management. This allows governments to remotely control and maintain all statuses from Terminal Layer to Network Layer in a unified manner. If an LED street light is damaged, repair can be done immediately; if a stolen car passes by, it can be located and found immediately; if an earthquake or flood occurs, the smart pole can instantly sound the alarm to warn the people, thus realizing the services and benefits a smart pole should bring.
In conclusion, the smart pole is said to be the node that is closest to the people and has the best capabilities to instantly receive and send information in every city. This creates a good interactive communication between the city and its citizen. In light of all these factors, Chunghwa Telecom has great faith in the development potential of smart poles in developing countries The telecom company also anticipates its soft and hardware providers to join in and seize this unprecedented opportunity together.
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