The remarkable growth of GIS use in telecommunications during the last three years—in spite of fluctuating economic conditions—is due to the growing awareness in the industry that GIS can solve specific challenges telecommunication carriers have been facing over the last decade. In rapidly implementing new network technologies on a regular basis, companies started losing track of their own assets including networks and customers. With scalable GIS platform technology finding its way into information technology (IT) departments, the realization set in that location is, in fact, the best way to link projects and departments or to connect the various aspects of international conglomerates.

While departmental GIS applications such as market segmentation, network planning and design, customer relationship management analysis, technician dispatch, and outage management continue to improve and proliferate, there are new trends that further increase the efficiency within organizations. One such trend is to use GIS to provide solutions to the most compelling challenges in a merger/acquisition process: How can a newly formed conglomerate take advantage of the synergies that are created after a merger or acquisition? Where do formerly unrelated customers and assets coincide? How can supply chains be optimized geographically?

Another trend is to put GIS to work in a new environment—from the static, supportive role of planning and network documentation to the dynamic, mission-critical role of network management. This implies the use of existing network and customer data to provide real-time visualization and analysis of operations.

The growth potential for GIS in the telecommunications industry is clear. As companies invest considerably in building geographic databases of network and customer information, creative new ways to increase return on investment begin to surface. Economic recovery of the telecommunications industry, combined with the advent of a truly scalable GIS platform, creates a bright future for GIS and telecommunication professionals.

For more information, visit www.esri.com/telecommunications.