Deutsche Telekom has started deploying NB-IoT tech to improve a smart parking system across Hamburg, with plans in place to roll out up to 11,000 sensors by the end of next year.
The service will be available on the operator’s Park and Joy app, which has been available since last autumn but initially focused on paying for parking.
The app was upgraded this month to include a new functionality that helps users to find empty parking spaces. It collates anonymised Deutsche Telekom network data, weather and calendar data to predict where a space is likely to be free. These spaces are highlighted by a grey P on the map’s app.
Deutsche Telekom is looking to improve the prediction quality by rolling out NB-IoT parking sensors. The first 100 sensors have been deployed in the Wandsbek district in the north east of the city. Deutsche Telekom said it aims to begin incorporating information from the sensors by the end of the summer and have more than 10,000 sensors deployed by the end of 2019.
[Read more: Deutsche Telekom partners with IBM on NB-IoT research, hits 600 locations in Germany]
Oliver Bahns, Head of Connected Mobility at T-Systems, said: “Residents and the city administration benefit from digital services such as our parking app. We spend an average 20 minutes looking for a parking space. This clogs up roads and increases exhaust emissions in the city centre. Here we aim to provide a solution with Park and Joy. We are delighted to use in Hamburg our new parking sensor network extensively for the first time.
“Other major cities are also set to benefit from the new service. The aim is to make the app usable throughout Germany.”
These cities include Bonn, Darmstadt, Dortmund, Duisburg, Hagen and Moers.
Dr. Jörg Oltrogge, Head of the State Office for Transport in Hamburg, added: “Predicting the availability of parking spaces will make it much easier for employees, residents and tourists to move around Hamburg.
“The planned link between park-and-ride and public transportation – with bus & train – or even bicycles paves the way for new unprecedented digital models in Germany.
“Better and, above all, predictable use of the transport infrastructure is a major plus for all transport users, while the City gets an effective management tool.”