Foundation Walls of a Smart City: Fiber Optic Cables

R&M, the globally active developer and provider of cabling systems for high-quality network infrastructures, based in Wetzikon, Switzerland, describes the road to the smart city. In issue no. 58 of the CONNECTIONS specialist magazine, the authors initially focus on the infrastructures without which a city could hardly function in the digital age.

In its specialist magazine, R&M explains why fiber optic networks are increasingly becoming the foundation walls of smart cities. In many places, the existing communication networks are not sufficient to handle the data streams that arise in a digitalized city. Even the forthcoming 5G services intended to accelerate data traffic in conurbations will have to rely on fiber optic connections between antenna sites. «Optical fibers are the lifeblood for 5G,» confirm consultants Deloitte, whose surveys R&M evaluated. And the McKinsey Global Institute stresses: «Before a city can be smart, it has to be networked.» R&M recommends: «In the future, the planning of FO infrastructures is going to be just as important as the planning of water, sewage, electricity and gas lines.»

CONNECTIONS also presents the Indian industrial metropolis Gurugram as an example of the rapid metamorphosis of a city into a smart city. Gurugram resolutely relies on FO infrastructures, including distribution frames and connection boxes from R&M which had to be provided at short notice.

The magazine also reports on the world’s largest duty-free zone at the new Istanbul Grand Airport, another example of the development of a kind of smart city. Here, R&M’s cabling solution is used to equip a 56,000 m2 shopping area with impressive digital and multimedia functions.

In addition, numerous technology trends that are becoming increasingly important for smart buildings and data centers are explained. The magazine also provides information on the current state of development of Single Pair Ethernet (SPE). This lean cabling solution will significantly advance the Internet of Things (IoT) and thus the digitalization of buildings and industrial facilities in the future.