New Zealand telco Spark has turned on 5G in downtown Auckland and partnered with Auckland Transport (AT) to showcase some of the latest in IoT smart city technology.

The deployment of 5G is expected to underpin the widespread use of IoT technology with its increased speeds, low latency and reliability. To bring this potential to life, Spark and AT have installed IoT enabled infrastructure at Auckland’s Wynyard Quarter, including 5G connected lighting, smart benches with charging capability, smart bins and parking sensors.

“We are excited to launch our commercial 5G network in downtown Auckland, building on the private network we have in place to support Emirates Team New Zealand and the launch of Spark Race Zone last month,” said Spark technology lead Renee Mateparae. “Our partnership with AT is about helping bring to life the significant contribution 5G and IoT will make in addressing urban, economic and sustainability challenges across the country. 5G will eventually allow for one million devices to be connected per square kilometre on a continual basis, generating data that will help governments, councils and businesses respond quickly, allocate resources wisely and plan for the future, which will ultimately improve services and amenities for New Zealanders.”

Mateparae said existing research has shown that IoT applications could improve quality of life significantly by saving time, improving health and safety outcomes, reducing environmental impact, and boosting social connectedness and civic participation.

Smart lighting has been installed in the surrounding streets of Wynyard Quarter’s Innovation Precinct, which can now generate heat maps of foot traffic to help AT identify any choke points to inform future infrastructure investments, as well as monitor air and noise pollution.

Some lights are fitted with 5G connected CCTV which could enable better detection of criminal activity, capturing high definition video even at night, and can be dimmed and brightened remotely to help reduce energy consumption.

Solar powered smart benches with smart phone and electric scooter charging capabilities have also been installed in the quarter, connected over Spark’s low-power LoRaWan IoT network. Sensors attached to bins can now detect when they’re full and could contact the council for service, preventing overflow and reducing the number of rubbish trucks on the road. 

Auckland Transport group technology manager Chris Creighton said the installations at Wynyard Quarter were not just shiny new tech, but real solutions to existing and impending problems.

“We’re learning how to use smart infrastructure in a way that works for Auckland so we can leverage applications as they evolve and become more commonplace,” said Creighton. “For example, we estimate Aucklanders visiting the city can spend up to one third of their journey searching for a car park, so we’re working with Spark to explore ways to help Aucklanders find available car parks quicker by installing 200 smart parking sensors throughout the quarter.”

Creighton said in future AT expected IoT applications powered by 5G could detect incidents such as car crashes or pedestrian accidents and notify the appropriate authorities, reducing the time it took for emergency services to respond, potentially saving lives.

Spark and AT have installed the IoT technology at Wynyard Quarter with technology partners NB Smart Cities, Glowbal NZ, SmartSensor Technologies and Parkable with the shared goal of using IoT and data to make better decisions and improve quality of life for people.

Spark was excited to have a commercial 5G network up and running in Auckland, with coverage across Britomart, the Viaduct, Commercial Bay and Wynyard Quarter, as well as in North Shore’s Takapuna.

With 5G available to Spark customers in Auckland, they can now experience 5G speeds first hand with a 5G ready mobile phone, free of charge, no matter what plan they are on until at least July 2021. Those who want to experience 5G speeds at home can sign up for Spark’s Discover 5G wireless broadband plan.