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The trial will boost mobile capacity in dense urban areas
British broadband and mobile operator Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has announced its latest initiative – the Smart Pole Trial, in collaboration with shareholder Liberty Global.
As part of the trial, VMO2 has erected 4G and 5G smart poles on their existing fibre network to help boost mobile network coverage and capacity.
The poles are smaller than normal mobile masts and can be set up quickly and without regulatory hurdles such as planning permission. As VMO2 have approximately 25,000 street cabinet dotted across the UK, the trial allows for a wide scale rollout that would speed up network build, reduce costs and de-risk upgrade programmes.
The company also claim that in a UK first, the electricity “is supplied by Virgin Media’s fibre network rather than a traditional power supply through innovative ‘digital electricity’ technology, which transmits power from on-street cabinets in the local area along fibre optic cables”.
There is also the possibility that in the future, the smart poles could power smart city solutions and electric vehicle chargers using the company’s existing network.
“As we continue investing to upgrade and expand our network, we’re always looking for new ways to work smarter and deliver more for our customers,” said Chief Technology Officer Jeanie York in a press release.
“The ability to use our existing national fixed network to backhaul and power small cells could be transformational – helping us save time and money, open up new revenue streams, support smart city technology and fully leverage the benefits of our scaled converged network,” she continued.
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