TelUC Bits & Bytes Newsletter - July 2023
News & Updates
The annual Esri UC was July 10-14 and offered a jam packed week of tech sessions, demo theaters, user presentations, and more. Below are some of the highlights from the week that we've compiled for our Telecom User Community.
Plenary
The week kicked off with a half day plenary filled with announcements of new products and updates, and user presentations. Those in the Telecom User Community attending the plenary in-person met up and sat together to watch the opening acts.
Jack Dangermond highlighted the great work of the community and showed some of the map examples sent in by telecom organizations.
During the morning act of the plenary, the GIS team from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) showed off the great work they have done to bring enterprise GIS and mapping to PG&E to support asset management and safety of their employees and the communities they serve with gas and electric utilities.
The morning and afternoon acts of plenary also highlighted many new products and updates to ArcGIS, including:
- ArcGIS Online and the web map viewer
- ArcGIS Reality
- Mobile apps
- ArcGIS Workflow Manager
- ArcGIS Pro
- and more
To re-watch any of the opening plenary or see all the new product updates highlighted, be sure to check out this video playlist.
Telecommunications Industry Kick-off
On Tuesday morning, following Monday's Plenary, the telecom industry kick-off was held. This kick-off meeting was a chance for the Esri Telecom Team to offer some insights into the state of the telecom industry. @RandallRené shared a few of the major telecom initiatives Esri sees telecom organizations tackling today.
Randall also talked about how GIS is helping to break down silos' between business groups and allow organizations to rally around maps to help support these major initiatives.
Along with sharing these insights, the Esri Telecom Team provided some guidance for the week and offered some suggestions for telecom specific demo theaters, tech sessions, and telecom user presentations to attend.
Demo Theater Presentation
On Tuesday, following the telecom kick-off, Esri Solution Engineers @PatrickRyan and @JLauer provided a demo theater presentation on Building NextGen Telecom Networks with ArcGIS. They showcased a workflow that used the FCC BDC dataset to locate new fiber expansion opportunities and then used ArcGIS Solutions, Network Path Planner and Walkout Survey, to optimize a fiber plan, cost out the project, and verify a high-level design in the field.
View an interactive StoryMap from the demo HERE.
Telecom User Presentations
Throughout the week, many ArcGIS users in the Telecom User Community shared how their teams and organizations leverage GIS to overcome a variety of business problems.
Windstream - Overcoming Operational Challenges in the Face of End of Life Telecom Technology
Windstream talked about how the demand to accelerate broadband coverage impacts not only how service providers choose to build out their networks but also how they document and maintain them beyond activation. With many solutions reaching obsolescence, more service providers are ditching the fear of digital transformation in acknowledgement that their legacy systems can no longer support their businesses. This session explores how a service provider is overcoming challenges presented by end-of-life technology by implementing an Esri-based, GIS-first approach to fiber network management.
Vodafone Deutschland GmbH - Vodafone Location Intelligence Platform: Vision and Strategy
The presentation explained the visions and longer-term strategies of the "Vodafone Location Intelligence Platform", which is available for geodata users in all European Vodafone markets and provides valuable basis for a "Vodafone Digital Twin". The presentation highlighted flexibility & collaboration through decentralisation and distributed responsibility in the international teams and is divided into two focal points: In addition to the presentation of the product portfolio, including various web-based GIS applications and the operating model.
Telenet - From Digital to Geospatial Transformation - A Telco TIER1 Success Story
This session highlighted Telenet, a leading telecom operator in Belgium, as they embarked on a geospatial transformation, initially driven by governmental directives. A digital twin of the telecom utility network enabled the enterprise integration of geospatial technology throughout the entire organization, serving over a large number of different business domains from sales, to marketing, to support and more. The presentation will share information about Telenet’s GIS-based network design & inventory management system and how adopting geospatial technology is continuously changing the organization.Attendees will gain valuable insights into the challenges, strategies, and outcomes of Telenet's digital journey.
County of Hawaii - Discovering the Digital Divide: A Spatial Approach and a Rural Solution
The presentation is focused on how the Coronavirus pandemic reinforced the importance of broadband networks, equity, and inclusion. Using the Fabric Data from the Federal Communications Commission, the County of Hawaii addressed the bulk fabric challenge process and last mile prioritization using ArcGIS. As part of this presentation, the County explores how Broadband Outreach ArcGIS Solutions were applied to address the digital divide. Furthermore, they shared how Esri's ArcGIS Spatial Analyst tools and statistics were used to challenge the validity of the fabric data.
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin - Using a Challenge to Make a Plan...Coordinating Broadband Deployment with Esri
Public Service Commission of Wisconsin shared how State governments, Internet Service Providers (ISPs), and communities have the challenge of rapidly deploying broadband infrastructure and updating broadband coverage maps. With billions of federal dollars at stake, Wisconsin leverages Esri technology with data and expertise from many partners to advocate for improved broadband statewide and prioritize deployment locations. Particular focus will be on using GIS tools to challenge new federal broadband mapping data to call for appropriate funding from the federal government and using citizen and partner-supplied data to plan deployment.
Wisper ISP - The Broadband Divide - Using GIS to Bridge the Digital Gap
In this session, they share how Wisper Internet's goal is to bring high quality broadband internet to communities and homes that are being overlooked and underserved in connectivity. In 2018, Wisper took on the daunting challenge of reaching more than 80,000 “tough to reach” locations identified as unserved across six states. Expanding into new territories at a rapid speed meant relying on data and analyses more than local knowledge. GIS was looked at to manage the project and datasets needed to succeed. Today GIS continues to guide how our network is built, sales efforts are targeted, and backend systems are designed.
Merit/University Of Michigan - Reading the Tea Leaves and Making Decisions on the Fly for Broadband Mapping
Merit/University Of Michigan shared how spatial work often requires a reading of the tea leaves as well as the ability to quickly pivot and make decisions on the fly. How well both the GIS and non-GIS teams navigate this impacts the quality of your end result. They shared decisions and considerations occur behind the scenes of mapping telecommunications infrastructure and broadband access.
SAG Award Winner
Congrats to this year's special achievement in GIS award winner, Metronet! Well deserved.
If you missed this year's UC, be sure to register for the upcoming IMGIS, October 10-12. Join professionals specializing in infrastructure management from several interconnected industries–architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC); electric; gas; telecommunications; transportation; and water. Register today: https://www.esri.com/en-us/about/events/imgis/overview
Product Updates:
ArcGIS Workflow Manager for ArcGIS Online
ArcGIS GeoAnalytics Engine 1.2
Recent TGI5s
Meetups & Events
During the Esri UC the Telecom User Community held an informal meetup following the Esri Infrastructure Social. Thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy the company of other telecom professionals in GIS and a beverage of their choice.
Be sure to check out and register for the next Telecom User Community meetup. Our next meetup will be virtual and the Esri Telecom Team will be providing an update on 'What's New in ArcGIS'.
Telecom Insights
For those of us lucky enough to call the telecommunications industry home, we live in an ever evolving world of technological change, supported by a multitude of secure network ecosystems and software services. In this interview, we talk about how the science of geography can streamline the telecommunications workflow, as as Esri technology provides a comprehensive foundation for the entire organization via our world leading geographic information system (GIS).
Additionally, we talk about how GIS aides organizations to gather, manage and analyze data and integration with customers’ OSS/BSS systems. We talk about how GIS enables efficient deployment in physical terrains, adapts to city, environmental and financial business constraints leaving a lasting impact on critical network infrastructure deployment. To read the full article in ISE Magazine, you can download it here:
ASK THE EXPERT: Digital Intelligence for the World’s Critical Infrastructures
Also, be sure to watch this month's Talking Telecom with Jason Hart and Randall Rene as they discuss Esri's Telecom Partner ecosystem.
For more insights, be sure to sign up for the Telecom News newsletter at esri.com/telecom.
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