Featured Stories

Thinking inside the box

The sight is a familiar one on our streets. Rows of unsightly utility poles, stretching into the distance, strung with the wires and cables we all need to communicate, heat and power our homes, and light our streets. Unsightly but necessary.until now.

Bell is pioneering an innovative solution to this visual and environmental clutter. Called a pole light pedestal, it looks like an ordinary light standard. But the real innovation is inside the box at the base. That's where the utility wires, street lighting and other cables that used to be strung overhead are now located for easier servicing and installation.

The concept is simple: electrical, phone and cable utilities pool their resources at new home developments and put their infrastructure underground. Even the connections for a home's main power supply are contained within the pedestal.

"With far less digging, there's less disruption to soil, as well as to plant and small animal life," says Denis Bordeleau, Bell Manager-Technologies. "We have dramatically reduced the impact on the visual environment as well as the costs of building and servicing the infrastructures."

In fact, using pole light pedestals can cost up to 50% less than conventional installation.

Bell is among the first communications companies in the world to use this pole light pedestal, which was developed by a partnership of The Centre for Expertise and Research on Infrastructures in Urban Areas, government and industry. The utilities retain access to their below-ground and pedestal infrastructure, while the municipality owns the attractive light standard.

Although seen only in Québec so far, the pedestals are a bright idea we expect will soon be spreading across the country.

Go to featured stories index