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JCDecaux partners with Alcatel-Lucent for connected street furniture

Outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux is partnering with Alcatel-Lucent to develop smart street furniture that would allow for both improved wireless coverage and data connectivity, while also allowing for spreading connected digital signage displays in street furniture across urban centers.

September 30, 2014

Outdoor advertising giant JCDecaux SA is joining forces with global telecommunications equipment company Alcatel-Lucent in the development of connected street furniture, the two companies announced recently. The combination would allow for both improved wireless coverage and data connectivity, while also allowing for spreading connected digital signage displays in street furniture throughout an urban environment.

While the JCDecaux and Alcatel-Lucent teams have for years worked independently on connectivity, Alcatel-Lucent's tests have demonstrated the relevance of combining its small cells with the street furniture developed by JCDecaux to improve connectivity in the city.

The density and coverage of street furniture in city centers makes them an ideal medium to usher in the development of "smart city" policies and the creation of an ecosystem capable of further improving the quality of service provided to users and citizens, the announcement said. Easy to install and to get quickly up and running, small cells help increase mobile networks' density of coverage, boosting capacity in saturated areas and offering high-speed access for all, the companies said.

The teams are now working together to optimise the esthetic integration of small cells in street furniture in order to provide cities and telecom operators with a global solution that is in tune with the urban environment, the companies said.

Jean-Charles Decaux, chairman of the executive board and co-CEO of JCDecaux, said in the announcement: "After various tests conducted in France and abroad, our collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent confirms our determination to provide urban areas with innovative and accessible services, building a true ecosystem for the greater benefit of mobile citizens. Rolling out a high-quality network has become one of the major strategic objectives in improving the appeal and competitiveness of cities, and we are pleased to work with the Alcatel-Lucent teams to increase our R-and-D efforts to design connected street furniture that is both functional and esthetic."

Alcatel-Lucent CEO Michel Combes said: "As leaders and innovators in our respective industries this pairing allows us to work together to build truly ultra broadband cities prepared to meet the ever growing communications demands of our mobile society. As companies that work daily within local communities around the world, we deeply appreciate the benefits that a connected society can bring — forever changing the way we are able to interact with each other. However we also want to make sure we do this in a way that does not clutter or overly put a burden on our already stretched city resources. This requires that our two companies work together to deliver innovative and eloquent design solutions that boost our existing information infrastructure while keeping our urban landscapes uncluttered and making smart use of existing power resources."