Wireless infrastructure provider American Tower and Philips Lighting announced that the City of Huntington Beach, CA will provide high capacity mobile connectivity, high quality LED lighting and smart city enablement with the newly developed Smart Fusion Poles.

(Image: Philips Lighting)

Designed to meet capacity challenges in dense, busy areas in the U.S., the Smart Fusion Pole provides the infrastructure necessary for wireless broadband connectivity in an aesthetically designed, energy efficient street light pole that blends seamlessly into the urban landscape. When Smart Fusion Poles are deployed, the City of Huntington Beach will be the first city in the country to utilize this shared wireless infrastructure smart pole technology.

American Tower’s agreement with the City of Huntington Beach provides exclusive access to 200 existing light pole locations for the deployment of Smart Fusion Poles. These locations are situated predominantly along the Pacific Highway and downtown areas, close to many popular restaurants and retail establishments.

“We want to be a leader in smart city initiatives to provide residents, businesses and visitors a better city experience and quality of life,” said City of Huntington Beach Mayor Mike Posey. “Equally important is the ability to maintain the aesthetics of this beautiful seaside city I call home. That’s why I am excited about the Smart Fusion Pole; it provides the connectivity required for our smart city initiatives without sacrificing the beauty and vista of our city.”

The Smart Fusion Pole includes integrated antennas that are concealed and can support services from multiple mobile operators on a single pole. The pole is optimized for small cell deployment to help solve today’s network challenges, while its plug-and-play design provides future-ready access for next-generation technologies, such as 5G and the Internet of Things. Integrated with Philips Hadco and Philips Lumec LED luminaires respectively, the Smart Fusion Poles will also provide high quality and energy efficient light to further enhance the spaces where the poles are installed.

“American Tower and Philips Lighting have brought to market an industry first—an aesthetically designed smart light pole that solves capacity and cell-edge challenges in cities and congested areas,” said Steven Marshall, President of U.S. Tower, a division of American Tower Corporation. “The Smart Fusion Pole hides wireless equipment in plain sight, meeting the requirements of cities, and provides high performance broadband to meet the network requirements of mobile network operators to support the insatiable demand for high speed data. We are proud to help the City of Huntington Beach deliver better mobile broadband to visitors and residents alike, especially during world-class events, like the Vans U.S. Open of Surfing.”

“Philips Lighting is known for combining high quality, energy efficient LED lighting with cutting-edge technology to help city leaders transform how they operate, manage resources and improve services to their citizens,” said Roger Karner, head of Market U.S. at Philips Lighting. “With the Smart Fusion Pole, you don’t have to worry about losing your smart phone signal and the light quality is second to none. This new technology amplifies our position as the lighting company for the IoT.”