Airspan Networks, with $95 million in fresh equity funding, has said it has been selected by Boldyn Networks to supply the private radio network (RAN) infrastructure for the city of Sunderland’s smart-city 5G project in the UK. The US vendor’s AirSpeed 1900 outdoor small cells have been incorporated already into existing street furniture around the city, it said.
The open RAN units are providing “high-performance and high-capacity connectivity” across Sunderland, it said. UK-headquartered Boldyn Networks, which bought private networking specialist Edzcom from Spanish tower company Cellnex in March, amid a string of acquisitions, was appointed to manage networking elements in the Sunderland smart-city project in 2022, when it was still BAI Communications.
Read more: Boldyn picks Airspan for private-5G smart-city project in Sunderland, UK
Safety concerns have been raised after it was suggested women who run out of battery on their phones on nights out in Wrexham could be directed to use street benches to charge them.
Wrexham Council is planning to install so-called “smart” benches, which use solar energy to power the battery of mobile devices, on the city’s High Street.
Speaking during a meeting this week, an official from the local authority said they were partly being introduced to improve the safety of people visiting night-time venues.
Read more: GB: Wales: Wrexham: Safety concerns raised over ‘smart’ benches plans
Councillors have unanimously backed calls to review how local authority services are offered in Sunderland to ensure nobody is left behind as part of ‘smart city’ plans.
It comes after a motion was put before the latest meeting of Sunderland City Council seeking to ensure everyone in the city can continue to access local authority services, “even if they cannot or do not want to do so digitally”.
Read more: GB: England: Inclusive smart city motion approved for Sunderland
Street benches which can power your phone could soon be making their way to Wrexham city centre as part of a regeneration scheme.
The so-called “smart” benches use solar power to charge the battery of mobile devices while you sit down.
Similar seats have already been installed elsewhere in North Wales after they were placed in the villages of Llanfair Talhaiarn and Llangernywl in Conwy in 2019.
City Voices: It is not possible to build an innovative, robust, and resilient digital government on top of the infrastructure built almost 10 years before the internet existed
There is endless political discussion about how digital technologies can transform the public sector and create cost savings.
But the truth is, digitalisation in the UK is not doing all that well. A brief survey uncovers a picture of a digital government that is failing. The infrastructure is old, antiquated, and costly – it is full of creaking, fragmented systems that are vulnerable to collapse or to cyber attacks. Without urgent action, the UK risks going backwards and falling behind internationally.
Read more: GB: Digital government is failing. The cracks are starting to show