City and industry to replace lights vandalized for their copper wire San Jose, Calif. has begun installing 50 SmartPoles that integrate LTE wireless with LED street lighting. The poles will also have custom energy meters on top to monitor the electricity used by LTE wireless transmitters. The pilot SmartPole program is part of a broader smart city focus envisioned by San Jose that takes advantage of Internet of Things technologies. In June, Intel paired up with the city on a separate project to install a network of sensors to collect data on air pollution, noise, traffic flow and water quality to improve the local environment and livability. The SmartPole technology relies on energy-efficient LED lighting from Philips and LTE technology from Ericsson. The lighting can be wirelessly controlled to modify lighting levels, but there will also be a fiber optic backbone for connecting smart elements to a broader network. Verizon Wireless is the first wireless carrier to take advantage of the LTE transmitters on the poles, which can help improve the density of the LTE network to boost wireless data transmissions in crowded areas. Signal dropouts are sometimes a problem in crowded downtowns. PG&E and Philips created the custom energy meters, about the size of a football, to sit atop the poles to monitor the energy used by the transmitters. One benefit of putting the meters on the top is that city can reduce the clutter from standalone meters attached to metal utility cabinets that sit on city sidewalks. The industry partners in the project are paying for all the SmartPole infrastructure and the city is not incurring any capital costs, according to the city and a spokeswoman for Philips. The SmartPole pilot was initiated three years ago when theft of copper wire knocked out many of the city’s streetlights. City partnerships with technology companies led to the addition of LTE and meters. “This is another story where crisis met opportunity,” San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo told the Silicon Valley Business Journal. The city is interested in expanding beyond the initial 50 SmartPoles, depending how the initial rollout goes, he added. Related content news analysis Apple earnings: About that iPhone 'slump' in China Based on information from Thursday's earnings report, it seems that data pointing to an iPhone slump in China were over-baked. By Jonny Evans May 03, 2024 9 mins iMac iPhone Apple news Microsoft begins to phase out ‘classic’ Teams Microsoft is encouraging Teams customers to move to the new, faster version of the collaboration app; the older version will be switched off next year. By Matthew Finnegan May 03, 2024 3 mins Microsoft Teams Collaboration Software Productivity Software news analysis Apple confirms it will open up the iPad in Europe this fall The latest efforts to comply with Europe’s Digital Markets Act mean developers can offer to side load apps to both iPhones and iPads in the EU. Apple has also taken steps to improve what it offers to smaller and non-commercial developers in the By Jonny Evans May 02, 2024 6 mins iPad Apple Mobile Apps news Udacity offers laid-off US workers free access to its courses for 30 days Sign-ups will be available over the next 30 days By Lucas Mearian May 02, 2024 4 mins Technology Industry IT Jobs IT Skills Podcasts Videos Resources Events SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER From our editors straight to your inbox Get started by entering your email address below. Please enter a valid email address Subscribe