> Here’s why poles are generally important: for the advanced wireless transmissions (whatever 5G turns out to be) that will be central to our shared digital future, you need access to fiber optic cables at frequent geographic intervals. That fiber, in turn, needs to be “dark” — meaning that it’s unlit by lasers and is just a passive transmission medium that can be traversed by a tsunami of 5G data. And access to that dark fiber needs to be available at a reasonable price.

> [...] With streetlights and signal poles, a city stands a chance of pushing along a competitive and innovative world of Internet of Things and sensors and data transmission, as long as it acts decisively to open those street lights and signal poles on a standard technical basis — again, like an electrical outlet.

The street lights will transmit 5G data so that IoT devices that rely on cellular networks (vs WiFi) can remain connected anywhere and for free or for cheap.