New Deal to See Public Lighting Used for Wireless Communication

One of Ireland’s and Europe’s leading telecoms infrastructure companies has formed a new collaboration with the world’s top lighting firm to develop a major expansion of wireless communication in public spaces.

Vantage Towers and Signify have agreed to co-operate to convert outdoor lighting into a wireless communication and citizen service platform in all eight of the Vantage Towers’ controlled entities across Europe.

The agreement will combine Vantage Towers’ infrastructure know-how and services with Signify’s BrightSites portfolio of smart poles, digital hubs and Interact IoT connected lighting system and software.

Together, the companies intend to deploy commercial projects based on the creation of a fibre-like wireless network that can be replicated on a large scale.

This will enable the development of neutral host networks to cater for the rising demand for connectivity in dense urban and rural environments. A three-month pilot project is expected to start soon in Spain.

Signify is the world leader in lighting for professionals and consumers and lighting for the Internet of Things. With 2020 sales of €6.5 billion, Signify has approximately 37,000 employees in over 70 countries.

The company has been leading the lighting industry’s transformation to LED and digital applications – one of its latest innovations is aimed at transforming outdoor lighting to facilitate a wide range of smart city applications such as surveillance, traffic management, weather, and pollution monitoring and charging of electronic vehicles.

The same platform enables applications such as small cells, fixed wireless access (FWA), Wi-Fi hotspots, massive IoT and campus networks.

By using Vantage Towers´ site delivery capabilities, Signify will be able to roll-out its solution across Ireland and Europe in a fast, cost-effective and sustainable way.

Vantage Towers AG is a leading tower company in Europe with approximately 82,000 sites in 10 countries, connecting people, businesses and devices in cities and rural areas.

It operates in Ireland, Germany, Spain, Portugal, Greece, Czech Republic, Romania and Hungary.

The company was founded in 2020 and is headquartered in Düsseldorf, Germany, and its portfolio includes towers, masts, rooftop sites, distributed antenna systems (DAS) and small cells.

“As a neutral host infrastructure provider, we welcome new business ideas, such as Signify’s innovative BrightSites Solution that complement our pan-European infrastructure assets and capabilities and support our mission of driving Europe`s digital transformation,” said Jaime Abril, Vantage Towers’ Head of Business and Product Development.

“We are very much looking forward to developing new applications together with Signify and making them available across Europe.”

Khalid Aziz, Signify’s Head of Connectivity Solutions, said the company is delighted to collaborate with Vantage Towers to jointly “accelerate the digital transformation in Europe”.

“Our innovative lighting solution, combined with Vantage Towers’ expertise as a neutral host, will prove to be a game-changer for the European market.

“It offers a great opportunity to utilise existing infrastructure to sustainably serve the ever-growing demand of bridging the digital divide, increasing safety and security, and enabling a truly connected society.”