Market Clarity publishes Atlas of telecoms infrastructure

Stuart Corner
Thursday, 26 February 2009 04:57

IT Industry - Market

Telecoms research firm, Market Clarity, has introduced an atlas that it claims "provides a complete picture of the country's telecommunications infrastructure...[via] a visual representation of the interaction between different infrastructure be it fixed wireless broadband, ADSL or SHDSL."

According to Market Clarity, "This first-ever complete snapshot of the nation's telco network will allow government agencies to ensure that the telco industry meets regulatory and commercial requirements. It will change how corporates and individuals decide where to set up offices or homes – because the Atlas provides a complete picture of each location's network connectivity. It adds that the atlas will enable carriers to see first hand opportunity for investment and growth.

The atlas has been derived from the company's telecommunications infrastructure database. It contains 341 maps showing backhaul fibre, long-haul microwave, ADSL, SHDSL, and fixed wireless broadband infrastructure at the national, state, and capital city inner and outer metropolitan levels.

"The atlas illustrates not just the infrastructure," said Shara Evans, founder and CEO of Market Clarity. "It also provides a vivid visualisation of the interaction between different infrastructure. For example, we can clearly see the way that competitive broadband access infrastructure depends on backhaul competition in this country."

Carrier rarely disclose comprehensive information on the location or extent of their infrastructure, but Evans said there were ways of obtaining this information. She told ExchangeDaily "It's amazing what you can find in council planning documents if you know where to look and you look hard enough... It is not a task for the faint hearted. There has been some really deep research that has gone into this over the past three years.

The atlas also includes composite maps allowing users to view access and backhaul fibre, microwave, DSLAMs and fixed wireless broadband in relation to each other, to population, as well as road and rail networks. It is available as a national package, or customers can select individual states, individual maps, or request a custom version containing maps of specific interest to them. Prices start at $550 (including GST) for individual maps.