Hull City Council has announced the installation of new long range wide area network (LoRaWAN) around the city and in surrounding areas to support internet of things (IoT) devices.
The carrier grade network has been delivered by local company Connexin, and will also provide limited open access for educational organisations, community groups and hobbyists.
The network involves seven LoRaWAN gates placed across Hull to provide coverage into the east, north and west of the city and overlapping areas of East Riding.
The council and the company said it will provide cost-effective, long range outdoor and deep indoor coverage in high density and difficult to reach areas, and support the plan to develop a range of smart city services in areas such as parking, lighting and waste management.
Councillor Daren Hale, portfolio holder for economic investment, at Hull City Council, said: “Hull is now pushing to be one of the UK’s leading smart cities, and we are always keen to explore ways in which we can make our services much more effective.
“The delivery of this technology already enables us to provide an improved service for our residents with the roll-out of smart bins. We are delighted to see how this vision can be developed across the authority.”
Smart applications
Connexin’s chief executive officer Furqan Alamgir said the network will give public and third sector groups and businesses a platform to develop smart applications and ideas.
Last week it was announced that the council and Connexin are to run a pilot on the use of smart bins around public places in the city.
The deal also reflects a growing interest among local authorities in the potential of LoRaWANs, which enable devices and IoT applications to communicate over long range wireless connections with an extended battery life. City of York Council recently announced the beginning of a deployment of a similar network to support its work with IoT devices.
Image from Connexin
