Itongadol.-Israeli internet provider Bezקq is going for its next challenge – building a smart city. The company announced on Tuesday that it will be teaming up with the Modi\’in Municipality to create a first of its kind smart city, with full digital management over a wide variety of municipal services.
Bezeq will be starting by fully integrating the city\’s parks systems. Everything from parking, waste disposal, park lighting, security cameras, WiFi, and the water and sewage in the park will all be monitored by sensors.
The sensors themselves will work using tiny batteries and Bluetooth transmitters which constantly transmit data. This data will be transmitted to a centralized collection point in the municipality building, and enable the municipality to react in real time to issues as they arise. The sensors will do this by being connected to Bezeq fiber optic cables, which enables the information to travel at the speed of light.
The Bezeq smart systems –accompanied by a smart phone application – will see a smart parking system in place. Smart parking shows which parking spots are occupied and which are free in real time. There will also be a smart garbage collection system, which uses sensors to determine how full garbage cans are, and gives the garbage truck the best route to empty out the fullest garbage cans first. Additionally, there will be a smart light system, which will be able to activate street lights according to how many cars are on the road, and according to the weather, amongst other municipal information and services.
Beyond improving municipal services to residents, the data which the city will receive will enable the heads of Modi\’in to make smarter, more effective policy to improve the lives of the residents, and to mitigate potential problems.
Bezeq is willing to invest tens of millions of Shekels into the project. However, there is still no clear funding model for the systems to be put into place.
"We see this as a long term investment and feel that this is a step in the right direction. We\’ve worked with underground fiber optic cables for years, and now, finally, we\’ll be working above ground," said Bezeq CEO Stella Handler