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ESRI, also known as the Environmental Systems Research Institute, reportedly announced the introduction of a new software and data package called Telecommunications Mapping and Analysis Package, which is said to help service providers and telecommunications companies analyze broadband market opportunities as they prepare to apply for federal broadband stimulus funding.

 

Officials at the company claimed TMAP helps interested agencies analyze cable and wire center data, and identify areas where broadband can be implemented, especially rural and remote areas that are unserved and underserved by high-speed Internet.

 

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009 allocates $7.2 billion for the development of broadband and Wi-B in USA and $350 million from this fund reservoir is earmarked for Broadband Data Improvement Act of 2008. $2.5 Billion of the $7.2 billion is set aside for low-interest loans, loan guarantees and grants at RDUP’s Broadband Initiatives Program discretion and that the remaining $4.7 Billion is allotted for the Department of Commerce’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s Broadband Technology Opportunities Program to decide on grants to deserving companies and technologies via its Broadband Technology Opportunities Program.

 

In addition, there is another $1.3 billion set aside in the form of loans and grants to enhance broadband and telecommunications services in rural areas within the federal budget for the fiscal year 2010. Most of the above mentioned funds have been designated to help expand broadband access to unserved and underserved communities across the U.S.

 

“With TMAP, small or large service providers can better compete for funds available through the Broadband Improvement Program (BIP) and Broadband Technology Opportunities Program,” said Randy Frantz, industry solutions manager, telecommunications and location-based services for ESRI (News - Alert). “It provides the information and processing power for creating compelling evidence for proposed projects and qualifying for stimulus funds.”

 

Officials at ESRI claim the new solution includes the company’s widely accepted Geographic Information System softwares, ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Business Analyst for analyzing data and graphically representing the findings on maps and via a reporting system.

 

The data is detailed to the extent of including broadband availability, street, household, household density, wireless towers, and census block levels, and the software allows service providers, businesses, and consumers a way to simply access the broadband coverage information.

 

Company officials said the ArcGIS technology also combines service data from more than 30 broadband providers with household demographic information to guarantee relevant information, and data includes wire center data from Tele Atlas (News - Alert), and cable boundary data from MediaPrints, and optional data on consumer mobile voice and data services.

ESRI said that the solution is extensible and therefore usage can easily be scaled from a local region to a state’s requirements and even for detailed coverage of the entire nation. With the package a customer can: Map locations of existing service provider operating areas; Identify rural and remote areas as required in preparing applications for funding; Analyze demographics; and, Develop business intelligence to determine which areas will develop into a profitable market capable of sustaining new services.

 

Recently Connected Nation (News - Alert) used ESRI’s ArcGIS to help provide companies with competitive advantage during the funding application process in the states of Kentucky, Ohio, Minnesota, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee and West Virginia.

 

Connected Nation, NTIA and RDUP had recently presented their progress, status and recommendations reports about facilitating every American citizen with broadband infrastructure as per the directives mentioned in ARRA 2009 to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet.

 

The overall agreement was that the best and most progressive results happened when the government and private companies collaborated to expand and set up broadband related infrastructure. There was also a heavy emphasis that collaborative efforts would enable companies and countries to come out of financial tailspin that the entire world is in, and it was listed as one of the seven critical Consumer Electronic Show 2009 guidelines.