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5 Opportunities for sharing infrastructure at street level

Opportunities for wireless mast and facility sharing are discussed in [b‐19]. This document also
mentions the opportunity for installing small base stations on street lampposts and use of wireless
technology to provide traffic monitoring and traffic light synchronization. Duct sharing is very
promising in enabling low cost installation of optical cables. Optical cables require very small space.
Typically, a 144 fibre cable can be less than 1cm wide. Such cables can be fully dielectric too, so they
are not subject to special requirements on safety.

Such duct sharing is valuable in new built areas, but looks even more fundamental in built areas
where optical fibre overlay is required to add broadband capacity.

6 Opportunities for ICT to support other utilities

When facilities are shared between ICT and other utilities, the ICT is in close proximity to other
utilities and may be used to support them at lower cost than when separate infrastructure is
provided. The sensors can facilitate better monitoring and control and give advance warning of
failure or blockages. Possible examples include:

 Flood detection sensors in utility ducts
 Fire detection sensors in utility ducts
 Temperature sensors in electric cables

 Gas leakage detectors
 Traffic flow monitoring
 Street lamp control

 Street lighting control
 Water utility (The sensor network needed for monitoring and control is illustrated below).

414 ITU‐T's Technical Reports and Specifications