KCCA PARTNER WITH ATC UGANDA TO INSTALL SMART POLES

ATC Uganda has boosted the Kampala Capital City Authority’s ambitious plan to give the city smart look. The smart streetlight initiative being implemented by ATC Uganda, is providing the city with smart poles equipped with LED lights and telecom infrastructure for connectivity.

The smart poles will mark a futuristic upgrade of street infrastructure in Kampala.

On Monday, August 29, the KCCA Executive Director, Dorothy Kisaka, hosted a team from ATC Uganda led by the CEO, Dorothy Kabagambe Ssemanda, at City Hall to discuss plans to increase connected street lighting fully fitted with Internet connectivity.

“Our valued partner ATC Uganda are lighting up the Capital City using Smart Poles, which are a multipurpose vehicle that will host infrastructure for faster connectivity and promote ease of doing business in the city,” Kisaka said.

Kisaka commended ATC Uganda for this initiative and welcomed this smart approach to urban planning.

“Smart city is not just words, but smart actions. All these innovations are in line with the Smart City campaign that we are implementing,” Kisaka said. Such initiatives are among the earlier signs that a city is serious about getting smart.

This year, ATC Uganda intends to install at least 50 smart poles across the city.

Charles Nsamba, the ATC Public Affairs Manager, said the introduction of smart poles signifies that the city is developing and adapting to the world of technology and supporting all hi-technology innovations efficiently and without limitation.

“The city has to be smart, and our initiatives blend in with the smart city. With the city space getting smaller and the population increasing, we need infrastructure sharing and smart poles to help us actualize that,” Nsamba said.

Some smart poles have been installed in areas of downtown Kampala, Luwum Street, Kololo and Nakasero which has eased connectivity for street traders.

He allayed fears regarding electromagnetic rays, saying the smart pole has no harm to the human body despite having telecom infrastructure.

About SMART City

Kisaka, says we say smart city to articulate the needs and expectations of the city residents. The phrase embraces the KCCA vision of being a vibrant, attractive and sustainable city and its mission of delivering quality services to the people of Kampala.

Smart city is an operations strategy to include every stakeholder in what we are doing in the city beautification campaign and to awakens a collective consciousness to what we all aspire for our city.

The goal, according to Kisaka, is to create an appreciation of the interconnectivity between the core pillars of a Smart City that is technology, infrastructure and people. TIP is the acronym for, Technology, Infrastructure and People.