UK tower company Cornerstone is to build an outdoor neutral host 5G and IoT platform across UK cities by deploying cellular-connected luminaries from Dutch lighting firm Signify in street lighting infrastructure. The firm, a radio infrastructure joint-venture originally between Telefónica and Vodafone in the UK, said it wants to “harness the power of 5G and IoT to transform urban landscapes”. Work will start within the next 10 weeks, it said.
Cornerstone owns 15,500 existing radio sites in the UK, formerly managed by Telefónica and Vodafone. Virgin Media O2, formed as a joint venture between Liberty Global and Telefónica in 2021, sold a minority stake in the firm to UK infrastructure fund GLIL Infrastructure last year. The deal with Signify, formerly Philips Lighting, seeks to use existing street lights, with ready power, to develop a neutral host service for municipal and consumer connectivity services.
Signify has been offering cellular connected street lights, attached to cloud managed light fittings (luminaires), for many years; traditionally, the have used low-power IoT technologies, including proprietary non-cellular IoT systems, but it has also offered LTE (4G) and 5G systems under the BrightSites brand for smart city services for five years, at least. A statement said Cornerstone “recognises the growing demand for digital connectivity in UK cities”.
Cornerstone will play the role of ‘neutral host’, making connected street lights available for multiple carriers to run services from – “across diverse urban landscapes”, it said. Cornerstone and Signify are already working to deploy the infrastructure in street lights across three cities, they said. This initial deployment will “lay the foundation for future expansion and innovation in the field of smart city infrastructure,” they added.
Cornerstone said in a statement: “This partnership aims to provide an innovative solution to address this need by leveraging existing infrastructure. By integrating Signify’s luminaire technology into lamp heads on streetlights, Cornerstone will build an outdoor neutral host platform which will enable seamless connectivity in urban environments discreetly and efficiently, allowing communities seamless access to public networks.”
Nick Spedding, new business manager at Cornerstone, commented: “This partnership is yet another example of our evolution towards neutral hosting and smart city solutions. We’re committed to bringing connectivity to urban and dense urban areas across the UK where currently connectivity is not in place or limited, enabling access to public networks is at everyone’s fingertips.”
Khalid Aziz, senior vice president and managing director of the BrightSites division at Signify, said: “This collaboration with Cornerstone marks an exciting opportunity to converge the strengths of two industry leaders. By harnessing the power of 5G and IoT through our street lighting solution, we are not only illuminating streets but also paving the way for a more connected and sustainable future.”
