Telecoms infrastructure operator Cellnex has launched an internet of things network that will allow a range of public and private bodies to monitor a range of utilities and services across the country.
The IoT network will cover 80% of the population by the end of this year.
Among the uses that it will potentially be put to are air and water quality monitoring, waste management, disabled parking validation and building energy management.
"Our new IoT network will lead to the internet of things becoming a practical and positive reality in everyday life, transforming the way in which a huge range of services can be operated and managed," said Paul Delaney, IoT Lead and Sales Director, Cellnex Ireland.
The development comes as Cellnex completes the integration of the 1,150 mobile network towers it bought from Three Ireland in January last year into its network.
That brings to 1,800 the total number of sites in the company's portfolio, making it the largest such provider in the country.
So far Cellnex has invested more than €60m in Ireland since it launched here and it now has 70 customers, including all the Irish mobile operators.
It entered the Irish market in 2019 when it bought Cignal Infrastructure, which in turn had bought 300 mobile towers from State forestry agency Coillte in 2015.
The new low power wide area network is being rolled out in partnership with Everynet and will be available in all major cities here.
The project was piloted successfully in Edenderry Co Offaly last year.
Cellnex Ireland is owned by Cellnex Telecom, one of Europe’s largest wireless telecom infrastructure providers.
The Spanish stock exchange listed firm owns or is planning around 130,000 sites in Spain, Italy, Netherlands, France, Switzerland, Austria, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Sweden, Denmark, Poland and Portugal.
