Vodafone M2M tech to make city lights smart & connected with Philips Lighting

Vodafone has unveiled its Internet of Things (IoT) managed connectivity partnership with Philips Lighting.

Under the agreement, the companies will allow global city authorities to deploy smart street lighting systems that will be connected wirelessly.

The partnership will see individual light points fitted with one of Vodafone’s machine-to-machine (M2M) SIM cards. It will enable them to be connected to Philips’ CityTouch street lighting management system.

The move will allow city authorities to monitor and manage lights using a central platform. CityTouch system integrates connected devices and specialised services to transform lighting operations of the cities.

Only less than 12% of the world’s street lights are LED and less than 2% are connected.

Philips Lighting SVP, head of strategy and marketing Bill Bien said: "We are at the start of a new era which will see highly energy efficient connected street lighting become the backbone of most smart cities.

"Robust, reliable wireless connectivity will help make this happen, linking streetlights with sensors, devices and management systems."

Vodafone M2M director Erik Brenneis said: "Lighting plays a key role in the smart city. Our agreement with Philips will see this technology transforming cities across the world backed by Vodafone’s world-leading innovation, technologies and networks."

Last December, Philips partnered with Cisco, SAP and Bosch, to jointly market networking systems using Philips programmable lights.

Earlier this month, Philips Lighting launched new LED family of street lights futureproofed by design for IoT age.

The Philips DigiStreet range of road and street lighting luminaires are designed to bring energy saving LED lighting to cities and give them the option to migrate to connected street lighting when they are ready.

The latest LED lighting technology used in Philips DigiStreet results in energy savings of about 40% compared to conventional street lighting.

Philips DigiStreet luminaire is sensor ready and the option to connect the street light. It provides a range of six different luminaires, including four road specific luminaires.

Philips Lighting has recently partnered with Dutch telecoms company KPN, French insurance firm AXA and French energy company ENGIE to drive the adoption of the IoT for homes and provide energy savings and peace of mind when away from home.