Ubicquia solutions transform streetlights into broadband networks to support myriad uses
For the wireless carrier, the streetlight-based approach used by Ubicquia typically means that there are enough access points available to serve the needs of all wireless providers in a manner that they like, Aaron said.
“The important thing about this product is that it is dedicated host, because this is really what the mobile operators want,” Aaron said. “The tower companies do neutral host, where they have one piece of equipment, and they share it across Verizon, AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. [With Ubimetro,] let’s say you have an intersection with four streetlights. You could have one as AT&T, one as Sprint, one as T-Mobile, and one as Verizon.
“The great thing about this is that operators want to manage their own network—Sprint has their deal with Hulu, T-Mobile has their deal with NetFlix, and AT&T has DirecTV Now. Everybody wants to start building and managing their own network, and that is what we provide the ability to do. Because streetlights are so prevalent, it’s very easy to architect a solution for AT&T to use every fifth pole or every 10th pole. And there’s plenty of poles, so AT&T can own their own network, Verizon can own their own network, and the same goes for T-Mobile, Sprint, etc.”
With its new relationship with AT&T—the nationwide contractor for FirstNet’s nationwide public-safety broadband network—Ubicquia is having discussions with the carrier about integrating a chipset that allows operations on the 700 MHz Band 14 spectrum licensed to FirstNet, Aaron said.
“We think there are a lot of interesting opportunities within what AT&T and [Ubicquia are] doing together in smart cities, but also how we could play a bigger role as FirstNet infrastructure starts building out,” he said.