Smart Cities Now Global, Need Fiber, UTC Event Told

The move to smart cities is global, said Bill McShane, Signify general manager-connected city experience, during a Utilities Technology Council virtual conference. Tuesday's speakers called fiber key. “Cities recognize that they must grow,” he said: “Their infrastructure is not where it should be. The population is demanding broadband services. The cities want to bring Wi-Fi sensors and cameras … to transform themselves.” Nodes are increasing and localities want to bring services to their constituents “but they’re looking for a better way,” McShane said. “They also have to bring fiber.” Communities are mostly deploying in mid- to high-band spectrum, McShane said in response to our question. The citizens broadband radio service band is “becoming more and more relevant today and everyone is wanting the full rollout of 5G,” he said. “Eventually, 5G millimeter wave will come along.” Due to the pandemic, telecom providers are “seeing an explosion of bandwidth demand for multiple technologies,” said Jay Borer, Corning director-carrier market development. Making technology available “can drive population growth, or at least sustained population, for many rural communities,” he said. Many households don’t have the bandwidth to deliver flawless video conferencing with apps like Zoom (see report, Sept. 2 issue), he said. Not all fiber deployments are equal, Borer said. “We’re seeing just a range of network architectures.” Some are “deploying really high fiber count cables,” up to 1,728 fibers per cable, he said: Others “are utilizing some very lean fiber-optic networks that allows for much smaller cable to be placed.”