Connected LED Streetlights: The Next Step Toward Smart City IoT

SAN JOSE, Calif – While cities accelerate the shift to LED streetlights, the integration of Internet‑of‑Things (IoT) capabilities remains a work in progress.

Together, Telensa and Signify (the former Philips lighting unit) have installed almost 2 million LED streetlights worldwide, a modest fraction of the roughly 360 million streetlights in existence.

Both firms are only beginning to embed IoT sensors into the poles. Telensa unveiled an AI‑driven pilot, whereas Signify had not yet addressed the topic in 2019.

So far, Signify has deployed just over 500 streetlights equipped with LTE or Wi‑Fi, and the company is set to release a 5G‑capable model this fall, featuring millimeter‑wave bands and a suite of sensors.

"There’s a lot of work to be done … It can be a challenging sell, but we’re trying to be a trusted adviser to the city," said Bill McShane, national director of Signify’s iCity program.

Keith Day, Telensa’s VP of marketing, noted the firm’s three‑fold growth over four years—largely driven by LED conversions—and added that sensors are emerging but the business case is still evolving.

Telensa packs a proprietary 900‑MHz radio in a controller pod attached to an LED streetlight. (Image: Telensa)

Standard LED fixtures—priced around $60—offer a compelling return. With a 25‑year lifespan and energy savings, they break even in under seven years, bolstered by centralized monitoring that reduces maintenance fleets.

In contrast, justifying IoT deployments and aligning them across multiple municipal departments is far more complex. Many cities still lack the data volumes and governance frameworks required for advanced analytics.

The commercial landscape varies dramatically by jurisdiction. In the United States, roughly 65% of streetlights are utility‑owned, whereas in the United Kingdom they are predominantly city assets.

Typically, ownership, maintenance, and manufacturing responsibilities fall to separate entities, underscoring the need to navigate the supply chain’s incentives.

Government procurement cycles are notoriously slow; a typical streetlight pilot can take up to 18 months.

However, there is growing momentum. As cities pursue smart‑city ambitions and utilities seek new revenue streams, a fresh cohort of municipal leaders is championing data‑driven pilots—particularly in the United States, which is leading the charge.