Tokyo to trial 5G antenna-equipped smart poles

Global trading and investment firm Sumitomo has sealed an agreement with the Tokyo Metropolitan Government (TMG) for the trial installation of smart poles in the Japanese capital.

Together with NEC, the firm will install two types of smart poles in the Nishi-shinjuku area of Tokyo — a priority improvement zone — by the end of June 2020.

The deal is part of the TMG’s broader plan to construct ultrahigh-speed mobile internet under the Tokyo Data Highway Basic Strategy, formed in August 2019.

NEC will install two types of smart pole to verify their utility under both ordinary and emergency circumstances.

The two ‘Smart Street Lighting’ models will be equipped with functions such as digital signage and pedestrian traffic flow analysis cameras. One model will be outfitted with a 5G shared antenna system for joint use by multiple telecommunications carriers. The other, a site-sharing model, will be equipped with 5G base stations for multiple telecommunications carriers.

The project aims to bring 5G shared antenna systems into full-scale use by March 2021.

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