The Nordic telecom group also joined a smart city initiative in Sweden to provide capabilities to test 5G and IoT
Nordic telecommunications group Telia has launched a new smart traffic and urban planning solution. The service provider said the new tool identifies the movement patterns of people based on anonymized mobile network data.
“Mobile network data has already been used to support traffic planning, in particular, in several European countries. Last spring, Telia tested the concept in Stockholm, and the results were very promising,” said Tapio Levä, senior business manager at Telia.
The service, launched by Telia Finland has been under development for two years.
“All data used in the service is anonymised and aggregated, which means that our customers cannot under any circumstances be identified or located using the service. The service complies with even the most stringent requirements of the new EU data protection regulation,” Levä said.
The solution, known as Crowd Insights, can, for instance, tell how many people commute during the morning rush hour. The information has potential uses for many companies and entities that plan services related to mobility and commerce, the European telco said.
Telia has tested the technical viability of the service and a pilot has studied the travel patterns and times of arrival of people in the city of Tampere.
“The service introduces a new dimension to urban planning, as we will have access to continuously updating and highly extensive data on the movements of streams of people. This opens us exciting opportunities in adjusting the plans of our entire public transportation route network and schedule as the Tampere tramway, set to begin operation in 2021, reshapes the city’s mass transport,” said Tero Blomqvist, director of the Smart Tampere Program.
In related news, Telia also announced that it has joined the Digital Demo Stockholm initiative, which aims to foster smart city initiatives for the Swedish capital.
The initiative is a joint effort by The City of Stockholm, the county council, The Royal Institute of Technology, Ericsson, Vattenfall, ABB, Skanska, Scania and Telia.
“Digital Demo Stockholm is exactly the type of ecosystem we need to build to truly reach the full potential when it comes to digitalization and the rapid technology advancement. By bringing together unique skills from a wide range of industries and areas we can develop innovative solutions for the city’s citizens and businesses and thereby contribute to a smart and sustainable development,” said Magnus Leonhardt, head of strategy and innovation at Telia Sweden.
Digital Demo Stockholm’s goal is to help Stockholm becomes the world’s smartest and most connected city by 2040.
Telia will contribute with its skills and technical solutions to enable the testing 5G, IoT and data analysis, among other technologies.
One of the current projects within the initiative is examining how IoT can contribute to cleaner water. Telia is part of this project, which develops and evaluates different methods to monitor the quality of the water and to prevent sabotage. One way is to identify toxins in the water by using connected sensors.
