3/2/2016, State Tech -- As more U.S. city governments deploy automated, digital and connected services to make their urban environments smarter, they will need to make sure they have the right mix of wireless network connectivity options and the infrastructure to support those technologies, industry analysts say.

According to analysts at IHS Technology, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco are the leading U.S. metropolises that are turning to smart-city technology. But recently, other cities have announced prominent smart-city partnerships, as well. For example, in January AT&T forged partnerships with Cisco, Deloitte, Ericsson, GE, IBM, Intel and Qualcomm to make it easier to deploy technologies and selected Atlanta, Chicago and Dallas to be among the testing grounds for the new alliances.

Undergirding all of these changes is wireless technology, according to Roz Euan-Smith, senior analyst for smart cities at IHS. The company predicts that smart cities will provide $25 billion in opportunities for wireless operators by 2020.

“When cities want to implement smart-city projects, regardless of the scale they’re thinking of, they need to address the connectivity in the city,” Euan-Smith said in an interview with StateTech. “[Internet of things] projects just aren’t going to work if they don’t have the connectivity part right.”

Finding the Right Wireless Technology

The promise of smart cities is largely in adding connectivity to infrastructure so that it can become more automated and efficient, delivering savings for municipalities and improved services for residents. Indeed, some form of connectivity to record and transmit data is required for all of those connected streetlights, intelligent parking systems and efficient utilities.

The technology landscape for many U.S. cities is “fragmented at the moment,” according to Euan-Smith, and “often, the city’s economics will dictate what they invest in.” There will always be trade-offs, she said, noting that cellular wireless technology is very expensive to deploy but also more reliable than Wi-Fi.

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