Smart City Dubai to roll out internet through streetlights this year

Up to 100 street lights in the Dubai Silicon Oasis will emit LED-powered internet by the end of this year, says the CEO of UAE-based technology company Zero.1, which yesterday demonstrated ‘proof of concept’ to a bunch of media persons in Dubai. Marc Fleschen, CEO of the Dubai-based Zero.1, showed how the LiFi (Light Fidelity) technology can be used to connect our devices via the now-ubiquitous LED bulbs (light-emitting diodes) instead of radio waves, reportedly giving it the data transmitting potential of up to 224GB per second.   “We are proud to say that in conjunction with our project partner du, we have been able to initiate the first demonstration of its kind in the Middle East. Working with du, we look forward to the roll-out of our LiFi applications in the Dubai ‘Smart City’ platform and the retail sector as the year unfolds,” said Fleschen. Zero.1 has partnered with du and Dubai Silicon Oasis to power LED street lights with the internet, and the project will go ‘live’ before the end of this year, said Fleschen, who adds that Dubai offers the best infrastructure and support for new technologies, which was one of the primary reasons why the firm is based in the emirate. Every LED light bulb can be potentially converted into a wireless router with the addition of a small microchip, he said. Adding a microchip to the traditional streetlight’s LED bulb brings ‘LiFi to life’, said Fleschen.       “We can add cameras for safety, security, and transport control and can even monitor pollution levels and provide data storage solutions,” he added. Will it be free for residents? “That’s not for us to decide – it’s up to the service provider,” he said. According to research from Mordor Intelligence, LiFi is 100 times faster than WiFi technology as well as being significantly cheaper. “A striking advantage of LiFi is that it can boost the network speeds about 100 times faster than the conventional WiFi system available,” said Fleschen.     “LiFi is the fastest and cheapest wireless communication system and is the optical version of WiFi. It is believed that the technology can yield speeds more than 10Gbps, allowing an HD film to be downloaded within 30 seconds.” When asked if Zero.1 holds the patent to the LiFi technology, Fleschen said: “It was Alexander Graham Bell who transmitted the first wireless telephone message on his a “photophone” in the 1800s. That was when optical wireless communications came. We – or for that matter anyone else – can’t patent what was invented in the 1800s by Mr Bell.”   He added that Zero.1 and its competitors have been patenting LiFi usages and devices or components that they develop, but the technology in itself remains patent-free. Zero.1 says the LiFi technology facilitates high-speed data transmission via pulsating light sources that seem static to the naked eye. “Our name Zero.1 is the binary code – zero for when the internet is off, and 1 for when it is switched on, with the flick of a button,” said Fleschen as he streamed music onto an internet-enabled wireless speaker by simply placing it under an LED table lamp. The new technology employs the LEDs’ light to disseminate internet and complements WiFi technology, he said, by minimising the risk of loss of data in a high density area in a confined region. According to the company, any LED lighting source – including street lamps – can be used to provide LiFi hotspots. The firm demonstrated the technology by streaming internet, video and audio over LiFi on various enabled devices through LED table lamps, floor lamps as well as LED fictures in the false ceiling of its office on Dubai’s Sheikh Zayed Road. Fleschen noted that the firm has been able to use the camera sensors in the current crop of smartphones – including the iPhone 5s and later and Galaxy S6 onwards – to get connected to LiFi. “Initially, we had to use a dongle to connect, but we have now managed to do away with that requirement, using the smartphone’s camera sensors instead,” he said. However, the older devices will still need a dongle, Fleschen said, adding that once the technology gains currency, the new devices will come pre-equipped with sensors for LiFi, like they now come for WiFi and Bluetooth. The intensity of the data of the internet depends on the power and quality of the LED bulb used, said Fleschen, who insists that connectivity doesn’t get lost when moving from one room to another. “The devices we use today buffer content, and the connectivity is maintained during the short time it takes one to travel from one room to another,” Fleschen said. “With the Global LiFi market expected to reach $80 billion by 2021, we expect to see demand for this technology increasing exponentially over the coming years,” Saleem AlBlooshi, Executive Vice President of Network Development and Operations at du, said last month. Du said last month that the operator is working with major businesses to create tailor-made LiFi solutions for them. Fleschen revealed that retailers in a mall can use the technology to target advertising and information to passing customers while it can also have uses in high-density areas like concerts, museums, etc. “We are also ready to apply this combined technology to conferences and large venues, as well as retail,” he said. “The best thing about LiFi is that, unlike WiFi where the available bandwidth gets divided among the number of users, LiFi can achieve up to 1,000 times the data density of WiFi thanks to the visible light spectrum, which is 10,000 times more than the RF spectrum of wiFi,” said Fleschen. LiFi uses Visible Light Spectrum (VLS) which has a huge data capacity (about 390 Tera Hertz (THz) of bandwidth available), and is unimpeded by radio interference and generates no electromagnetic smog. So, LiFi does not interfere with radio signals and is safe to use in radio frequency sensitive environments such as aircraft, nuclear plants, and oil rigs. It is also safer for environments such as hospitals, medical centres, and schools, he explained. The only major shortcoming we could find in the technology is its range and the fact that since light cannot penetrate walls, one will need to install LiFi LEDs in all rooms of the office or house to get connectivity, unlike WiFi where one router can do the job. That, however, may be a small price to pay for saving the environment. The technology is more environment-friendly because, one, LED is energy efficient and two, data transmission requires negligible additional energy. In addition, WiFi transmission under water is extremely difficult but Li-Fi works well in this environment, he said. Another advantage is security, as LiFi does not travel between walls the data is more secure. The million-dollar question – can I install LiFi at my Dubai home, and how much will it cost? “We are on track to launch the first LiFi internet @ Home in Q4 2016 - Q1 2017,” says Fleschen. “We expect a high-end design lamp to retail under $1000 (Dh3,700). However, we will also launch other packages of varying functionalities for less. In a few years, it is likely that your home will include a LiFi-enabled LED supplied by your telecoms operator which will be the source of your Ethernet connection.” We’re sure du is listening.   - Emirates247