Smart infrastructure has been a long-term goal for many cities. Many citizens dream of a future with reliable public networks, autonomous vehicles, widespread IoT devices, and other futuristic capabilities designed to make our lives safer and easier. While it still may be a while before every one of those dreams is realized, advancements in 5G technology have brought us monumentally closer.
Network software provider Mavenir recently revealed global communications company BAI Communications will be utilizing its MAVedge networking solution to support a Smart City project for the Sutherland City Council in England. BAI Communications intends to build a new 5G centric network to support digital public services related to education, social care, and manufacturing/logistics. Eventually, officials hope to evolve this infrastructure into a neural host network, allowing smart services to be incorporated throughout the city at more affordable cost.
“We are creating a new digital fabric for Sunderland’s City, upon which the City’s digital and business entrepreneurs can build – a portfolio of new digital services for the benefits of residents, businesses and visitors,” commented Andrew Conway, Director of Solutions and Innovation at BAI Communications UK.
The MAVEdge offering combines 5G Open vRAN and 5G Packet Core solutions, allowing the city to flexibly scale the network as it needs to. The advanced 5G network will enhance the functionality of smart homes throughout the city, while simultaneously supporting remote access for distance learning. Businesses within the city will also benefit from this massive boost in networking power, as it will help connect devices for critical supply chain operations, autonomous vehicles, and automated processes.
“Open RAN is a cost-effective solution which is based on open interfaces and will give us the ability to deploy in a very agile and flexible way,” added Brendan O’Reilly, Group Chief Technology Officer at BAI Communications. “We are delighted to work with Mavenir, a technology innovator company in cloud-native virtualized solutions and a leading player in the Open RAN initiative and 5G Core. Technology we believe will help accelerate Sunderland’s ambitions to become one of the UK’s most advanced smart cities, connecting people, communities and businesses.”
Join The Smart City Event from June 21-24 in Fort Lauderdale, Florida to hear from business leaders, developers, and enthusiasts about how smart city technology will revolutionize the way we live and work in the future.
Edited by
Maurice Nagle
