- 1. Indicative savings with connected lighting and metering; varies by project and original sizing.
- 2. Cumulative total across smart-cities projects from the Lantia / Kore Logic group.
- 3. Estimated useful life in low-traffic LPWA scenarios; depends on module and transmission pattern.
Key features
Smart lighting
Remote luminaire control, fault detection and automated energy savings.
Waste management
Container fill sensors to optimize collection routes.
Smart parking
Free space detection and real-time driver guidance.
Air quality
Pollutant monitoring, noise and environmental conditions.
Urban security
Connected video surveillance and early warning systems.
Connected infrastructure
Monitoring of bridges, buildings and utility networks.
Use cases
Typical problems
- Unstable coverage in urban canyons: tall buildings, pedestrian tunnels and underground parking where classic LTE drops below the module threshold and the sensor stops reporting.
- Buried sensors (parking, sewer, sub-grade waste containers) with 20-30 dB attenuation over outdoor signal; they require NB-IoT with extended MCL rather than LTE-M or 4G.
- Municipal tenders that mandate multi-vendor and multi-operator: the network can't be tied to a single provider given the 8-10 year contractual lock-in risk.
- Vandalism and theft of smart luminaires — a visible 2FF SIM in the controller gets pulled out and reused in another device. Embedded MFF2 SIMs eliminate that vector.
- Coexistence with pre-existing LoRaWAN or Sigfox city networks: you have to decide when to migrate to cellular and when to leave the sensor on its proprietary LPWAN.
- Europe's 2G/3G sunset breaks streetlight controllers and parking meters deployed 8-12 years ago; modem replacement must be planned ahead of the shutdown date.
Recommended architecture
- 1
Sensor or controller with NB-IoT module (band 20 / band 8 depending on operator) and embedded MFF2 SIM
NB-IoT delivers up to 23 dB of additional coverage over GPRS and draws microamps in idle — critical for sensors with 8-10 year batteries. The MFF2 SIM is soldered to the PCB: it withstands -40/+85 °C, vibration and vandalism.
- 2
Multi-IMSI plan with switching across Movistar, Vodafone and Orange (Spain) or local equivalents
Complies with tender clauses that ban single-operator dependency. The module tries alternative IMSIs if the primary loses coverage after N attempts, with no need to swap profile OTA.
- 3
Private municipal APN with RFC1918 addressing and IPSec tunnel to the control center
All city sensors converge on a dedicated VRF that never touches the public Internet. Mandatory to comply with the Spanish ENS (National Security Framework) on public-administration projects.
- 4
Vertical platform (Telensa CMS, Cimcon iSLC, Citelum LightCloud, Urbiotica) over the shared data bus
Each vertical (lighting, waste, parking) consumes its connectivity slice but shares the SIM management portal, usage alarms and SLA reports for the city councilor in charge.
- 5
Event layer towards FIWARE / Smart City Platform
Raw sensor data flows through a Context Broker (Orion-LD) in NGSI-LD format, normalized to Smart Data Models. Lets a parking sensor from one vendor feed the citizen app without coupling to the hardware.
Indicative data plan
| Device | Typical monthly traffic | Recommended plan |
|---|---|---|
| Streetlight controller (Telensa, Cimcon, Itron) | 1-5 MB/month | NB-IoT plan 10 MB |
| On-street parking sensor (Smart Parking, Nedap, Calsens) | 0.5-2 MB/month | NB-IoT plan 5 MB |
| Container fill sensor (Sensoneo, Smart Trash, Compology) | 1-3 MB/month | NB-IoT plan 10 MB |
| Air quality station (Libelium, Vaisala, Kunak) | 20-100 MB/month | LTE-M pack 100 MB |
| Traffic / urban surveillance camera | 5-50 GB/month | Dedicated 4G/5G plan + pooled data |
Indicative figures for reports every 1-6 hours. Sensors with real-time events (car pass, lid opening) consume more; cameras depend on bitrate and whether they upload everything or just events.
When to use static IP
- The municipal control center opens inbound SSH/HTTP sessions against streetlight controllers for diagnosis without dispatching a technician to the cabinet.
- The video surveillance platform (Genetec, Milestone, Avigilon) requires a static IP for RTSP stream binding on each camera.
- ENS audit or municipal tender clause requires per-IP traceability in device access logs.
When to use private APN
- The City Council operates its own data center or private cloud (Azure Spain, OVHcloud, in-house DC) and demands traffic never crosses the Internet.
- ENS Medium or High and GDPR compliance — license plate data on LPR cameras, biometrics on access points, citizen geolocation — requires end-to-end private network.
- Multi-tenant: several departments share SIM infrastructure but each lives on its own VRF with independent addressing.
Compatible devices
Telensa PLANet / UrbanIQ
Luminaire controller with NB-IoT and industrial MFF2 SIM. Supports point-to-point dimming, electrical metering and per-node fault detection. Compatible with Telensa CMS or third-party CMS via D4i.
Cimcon iSLC
NEMA / Zhaga controller with NB-IoT or LTE-M, certified for 1:1 swap on standard luminaire heads. Reports consumption and operating hours to the municipal inventory.
Itron Streetlight Vision
Per-luminaire metering compliant with the EU Measuring Instruments Directive 2014/32/EU. Useful when the city bills electricity per luminaire to the concessionaire.
Smart Parking SmartEye / Nedap SENSIT / Calsens
On-street parking detector with NB-IoT, 7-10 year battery and pavement-flush enclosure. Detects presence by magnetometer or radar.
Sensoneo Single Sensor / Smart Bin
Ultrasonic container fill sensor with NB-IoT. Reports level every 4-6 hours and triggers an event if fill exceeds 80%. Optimizes collection routes and cuts empty truck runs.
Libelium Smart Environment Pro / Vaisala AQT420
Air quality stations with electrochemical sensors for NO2, O3, CO, PM2.5/10 and weather. Calibration per Directive 2008/50/EC; reports every 5-15 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
- Why NB-IoT instead of LTE-M or classic 4G for urban sensors?
- NB-IoT provides more coverage in buried or urban-canyon locations (MCL up to 164 dB vs 156 dB for LTE-M) and draws microamps in idle, enabling 8-10 year batteries on isolated sensors. The trade-off: multi-second latency and throughput capped around 60 kbps. Fine for streetlights, parking or waste; for cameras or weather stations you need LTE-M or 4G.
- Does this model comply with the Spanish National Security Framework (ENS)?
- Yes at Medium category with private APN, IMSI/IMEI authentication and IPSec tunnel to the municipal data center. High category requires additional device-level encryption (mutual TLS or DTLS), access traceability and a documented incident management procedure. Request our ENS-IoT guide.
- How do you manage a 10,000-luminaire multi-vendor estate without chaos?
- Centralize connectivity in a single SIM management portal (with tags by department, district and controller model) and let each vertical use its specific CMS. Usage alarms, deactivations and reactivations are managed transversally; vertical-specific functions (dimming, maintenance) stay in the vendor's CMS.
- What happens to existing 2G and 3G controllers when sunset arrives?
- Spain shuts down 3G in 2025 and 2G in 2030 depending on operator (Orange already has a firm date). Three options: replace the full controller with an NB-IoT one, install a gateway router that bridges from local 2G to external 4G, or renegotiate residual-network extensions with the operator (expensive and temporary). Replacement usually wins on a 5-year horizon.
- Can several departments or municipal entities share the same network?
- Yes via APN-level multi-tenancy: each department on its own VRF with its own RFC1918 range and firewall rules, but sharing SIM infrastructure and portal. Lets you charge actual cost per department and separate operational responsibility without duplicating operator contracts.
- How do pre-existing LoRaWAN or Sigfox networks fit alongside a new cellular rollout?
- Coexistence, not replacement. If a city LoRaWAN network is already running for lightweight sensors, keep it and use NB-IoT only for new verticals or for areas without LoRa coverage. The event layer (FIWARE Context Broker or equivalent) abstracts the transport and the citizen app sees no difference.
Pre-deployment checklist
- 1Inventory of verticals to deploy (lighting, parking, waste, air quality, cameras) with estimated device count per vertical and a 5-year horizon.
- 2NB-IoT and LTE-M coverage map across the city by operator, including buried zones or urban canyons where critical sensors are planned.
- 3Per-vertical radio decision: NB-IoT (lighting, parking, waste), LTE-M (meters, air quality), 4G/5G (cameras, info panels).
- 4Tender with mandatory multi-operator or multi-IMSI clause to avoid 8-10 year contractual lock-in with a single provider.
- 5Municipal network architecture: private APN, VRF per department, IPSec tunnel to the data center, VLAN segmentation if it merges with the city's corporate network.
- 6ENS compliance (Medium or High depending on criticality) and GDPR for verticals with personal data (LPR cameras, access control, citizen app).
- 7Replacement plan for 2G/3G devices ahead of the operator-specific sunset (3G 2025, 2G 2028-2030 in Spain).
- 8Anti-vandalism policy: embedded MFF2 SIM instead of 2FF, sealed enclosures, mechanical fixing of the controller to the luminaire.
- 9Integration with the horizontal municipal platform (FIWARE or equivalent) in NGSI-LD format using normalized Smart Data Models.
- 10Pilot with 50-100 devices in 2-3 districts for 8 weeks before mass rollout.
Need a printable version? See the pre-deployment guide.
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