Barcelona is the first Spanish city to take advantage of an innovative management model, which connects cities to infrastructure such as fiber optics, Wi-Fi access points and urban furniture. The company Abertis is behind this service.

The telecommunications infrastructure division of Spanish group Abertis has presented a pioneering integrated management model for urban infrastructure designed for telecoms operators and public administrations. The first city to use it is Barcelona.

One innovation incorporated into this new model is the service Wi-Fi Offload, which lets telecoms operators use available wireless access to decongest the cellular network; it also allows them to complement their own networks where coverage is lacking. The system can cut operators’ costs between 30% and 40%.

Abertis also demonstrated at the Mobile World Congress (MWC2014 Barcelona Mobile World Congress) various other solutions for towering, smart cities and audiovisual content, as well as a new platform for the internet of things which lets people connect any object to the internet using inexpensive technology that consumes very little power.

In addition, the telecoms infrastructure operator broadcast the program ‘The Passion of the Prado’ over DTT in ultra-high definition. This is the first documentary shown in Spain using 4K technology, capable of broadcasting 50 images per second, and one of the first times this technology has ever been used for broadcasting in Europe.