Want to find the right data to support your proposed CAPEX investment and uncover hidden potential for your network? OSP magazine is working with experts in the field to help give you the tools and technologies to do just that.
Geographic Information Systems, or GIS, can bring together information on service areas, customer information, demographic data, broadband coverage areas, and aerial imagery to provide the justification necessary for future projects and deliver a business plan that will be profitable in the years to come. Talk about deep analysis. That’s about as in-depth as it gets!
GIS, a Vital Tool for Deploying a New Broadband Network
by: Randy Frantz
November 1st, 2010
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) is funding broadband infrastructure projects in rural areas that previously might have waited years to obtain high-bandwidth services. The companies that have been awarded the funds to build these networks have cleared one obstacle but now face the real challenge—constructing a state-of-the-art broadband network and ensuring that it can be operated profitably. Fortunately, geographic information system (GIS) technology can help these companies evaluate market potential, then plan, build, and successfully operate these broadband networks.
Using readily available marketing data, GIS provides tools to identify areas of high demand and consumer ability as well as consumer willingness to purchase the new services. GIS tools can also be used to segment the market into residential and commercial service areas.
Turn Joint Use Into an Opportunity With GIS
by: Randy Frantz
October 1st, 2010
Mention joint use, and most companies, including pole and attachment owners, focus immediately on the audit process during which an inventory of each pole and attachment is collected. The audit is probably the most contentious and yet potentially the most beneficial portion of the joint use process.
The problem is that companies don't consider the audit as an opportunity to solve other problems. Take the example of telecommunications marketing departments: one of their major complaints is the inability to determine serviceability. They need to know the location of their network in relation to their customer service requests. If the data collected in an attachment audit was available to the marketing department, it could significantly help them in determining the network location and serviceability. So why doesn't this happen?
Planning Profitable Broadband Networks
by: Randy Frantz
July 1st, 2010
Every telecommunications salesperson’s dream is to land a new broadband business customer. However, sometimes a salesperson’s big opportunity creates a complex challenge for network planners.
In the best-case scenario, the customer is already in a fiber-lit building or near an existing access point, which will require only a low-cost fiber extension to connect service. But in the case where the customer is far from the existing network, high construction costs for an extension may overwhelm the revenue opportunity. In a highly competitive market where the shift from narrowband to broadband services is a foregone conclusion, a service provider’s decision to delay a network extension until sufficient customer requests can justify the cost will probably result in the initial customer signing on with the competition.
Mapping a Successful Broadband Plan
by: Randy Frantz
May 1st, 2010
I wonder how many industry experts foresaw the cascading events that were set in motion when the Organization for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) released the national broadband ranking report in 2007. The report showed that the US had slipped to 15th globally in broadband penetration, down from as high as 4th in 2001. As events unfolded, I saw parallels between what was occurring in the public arena and those observed during decades of working in the telecommunications industry. During those years, I saw telecommunications companies, fearful of losing customers and market share, react dramatically when threatened by a competitive intruder. The response was to quantify the threat and allocate resources to fund new product launches and stimulate services demand.
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