Newcastle City Council’s new smart poles in the east end will have a free WiFi range of about 100 metres when they are operational.
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The council has installed 50 of the tall, blue light poles along the Supercars track in Newcastle East, but they will not transmit a WiFi signal during the race weekend.
Read more: Newcastle Supercars track taking shape
The fibre-connected foreshore poles are a test site for a wider rollout of 300 more next year, the largest project of its kind in Australia.
They contain LED lighting which can be dimmed remotely, audio speakers for public announcements and cameras for “real-time traffic analysis”.
The poles, which are part of the council’s Smart City Strategy, were switched on this month to provide street lighting.
“The smart poles are designed as a component system capable of hosting multiple forms of technology,” a council spokesman said.
“The east end smart-pole deployment is the pilot site for testing technology options and connection methods. First upgrades will be the inclusion of WiFi.
“Each smart pole's WiFi will have a range extending approximately 100m, with a radius designed to overlap with other poles along the street. The objective is full coverage of Foreshore Park, Camp Shortland, Watt St and Shortland Esplanade.”
The spokesman said WiFi would not be available for the public before or during the Newcastle 500 Supercars race in late November.
The camera technology in the poles will be of interest to race fans taking a spin around the track.
