Press Releases

Budapest, November 14, 2012 12:00

In the frame of T-City Szolnok Magyar Telekom launches a two year programme under the name of „Shape the city of future!” for families living in Szolnok. Telekom today introduces the interactive MobileCity application, while the „smart metering” programme also reaches another milestone: old meter are replaced for new physical meters with 1,000 families living in Szolnok

Magyar Telekom and Szolnok city launched several successful tests within the frame of the T-City programme (e.g. energy management, IP camera broadcast system, Warehouse of the Future, mobile shopping and parking, Home SafeGuarder, Panic Button, School Card, Remote Invoice, public space monitoring, City Card, virtual guide and Visuland). Services have been upgraded in cooperation with residents and local institutions, based on their feedback and ideas – resulting in the market introduction of further services. Based on experiences and knowledge gained in these projects today announced the launch of new programmes and developments, contributing to Szolnok’s digital urban development aspirations.

„Shape the city of the future!”
Under the name of „Shape the City of the Future!” Telekom launched a two year programme, in which Szolnok families can volunteer for testing services to be introduced in the market (including the upgrade of the city card, mobile wallet, smart metering, etc.) as well as innovative tools (mobile phones, tablets, TV sets, etc.).
„The T-City programme playing an important role in Telekom’s innovative activity not only proved itself right, but also turned out to be an efficient development direction in the past years. Using the currently announced „Shape the City of the Future!” programme we intend to survey actual market demand. We wish to introduce useful services, custom designed for our customers’ needs” said Róbert Pataki, chief strategy and business development officer of Magyar Telekom.
On sites www.t-city.hu and www.szolnok.hu Telekom and the city of Szolnok publicly announced the possibility for families interested in novelties and modern telecommunication services to participate, by sharing their experiences and opinions about innovative solutions changing and making their lives easier. Szolnok families chosen from among applicants can test services and products within the frame of the T-City programme from early next year. Application forms can be submitted in the Szolnok T-Point, the Downtown Customer Service or in the post office latest by December 15, 2012. Telekom’s associates are also happy to welcome applicants on December 14/15, 2012 at the city’s Advent fair.

MobileCity
Based on the success of the Virtual Guide – that was primarily developed for tourists and downloaded almost 9,000 times during the 10 months test - Telekom developed a solution being useful for Szolnok residents. Under the MobileCity name this was the first mobile application in Szolnok that enables residents to arrange mobile parking, inquire about the specific location of selective waste collection islands, report illegal waste dumping or receive information about urban services, events or even directly follow news on Facebook. Telekom plans to further develop the MobileCity application in coming years based on feedback of Szolnok residents. The application can be downloaded from late November on smartphones (running Android or iOS operation systems).

Smart metering
Resulting from the developments of the past few years, Magyar Telekom established its own, complex smart metering service, offering solutions for all market players, ranging from energy providers to consumers. As commonly known, Telekom and E.ON jointly launched the smart metering pilot in Szolnok in the first half of  2012. Following the cooperation of the two companies’ experts in technical designing and implementation, now the installation of new meters was started.
In the frame of the programme new possibilities and services will continuously become available to almost 1,000 Szolnok consumers. These services – which nowadays may seem to be impossible in the energy market – will soon become reality, using Telekom’s smart metering infrastructure. Within the pilot, actively participating Szolnok consumers can not only comment, but also modify the future energy market related services. Building upon actual consumer and operator experiences gained in the course of establishing and introducing the smart metering system, Magyar Telekom intends to contribute to the objectives of the Hungarian Energy Office to create a smart metering regulation that takes into consideration the interest of all market players

Briefly about T-City
T-City is the multiple year development and innovation programme of Magyar Telekom and the city of Szolnok, that was launched in May, 2009 with the purpose of testing the latest telecommunication, infocommunication and content services. In the frame of the initiative, Szolnok residents are first to benefit from advantages offered by new technologies, in areas like healthcare, education, public administration, tourism and culture. The mission of T-City includes to offer implemented services to as many Szolnok residents as possible, while T-City’s innovations are also meant to support the city’s long term development strategy.

By analysing residential and SME demands of the city, and establishing future services based on market needs, Magyar Telekom created a live test environment, enabling the real life trial and testing of products and services to be introduced. These trials include the IP camera online broadcast system in the city sports hall, the Future Department House, the RFID based entry system installed in the Szandaszőlős elementary school, the T-City Szolnok City Card and their further developed versions. The intelligent energy management system is also being tested in building operated by the local municipality that can substantially contribute to energy saving objectives. The trial of water quality monitoring system of river Tisza’s Szolnok section was also launched, enabling experts to acquire real time information about the composition of water, or even immediate alarms about potential pollution incidents.