Ex-O2 chief warns of UK's 'analogue' thinking on smart cities

The UK could miss out on smart cities because of "analogue" thinking, the former head of O2 has said.

In an interview with the Financial Times, Ronan Dunne said slow-moving planning laws were holding back innovation and that a "radical overhaul" was required to pave the way for 5G networks.

Smart cities are an urban development in which communications technologies are combined with internet-connected sensors to manage a city better, by gathering data and acting on it in real time.

For instance, a driverless car might communicate its position to a network, and lights could be changed to redirect cars and ease congestion.

All those sensors will require bandwidth, hence the warning from Mr Dunne - now head of Verizon (NYSE: VZ - news) 's wireless business in the US.

5G, the fifth generation of mobile networks, remains poorly defined - there are no standards or specifications.

The basic idea is that it will be a lot faster than 4G and will launch in the UK in 2020.

Smart cities are also a nebulous concept.

According to various rankings, London is already quite smart.

Much of its infrastructure data, such as transport, has been opened up through the London Datastore.

The Smart London board advises the Mayor on deploying technology to improve Londoner's lives, particularly in areas including transport, the environment and skills.

And earlier this year, research conducted by technology company Huawei found that Bristol was also a leading smart city.

Birmingham was in third place.