‘Gaist data has transformed our planning process’
So says Viv Beck, Infrastructure Engineering Manager at Freedom Fibre who has over 20 years of telecoms planning, capacity and systems experience.
When Viv joined Freedom Fibre in July 2021 the company had ambitious plans to expand its network coverage to provide inclusive, high-speed fibre infrastructure across the UK.
This is the story of how they partnered with Gaist to improve their planning and design processes enabling a right first time approach to fibre rollout projects.
Data That Is Streets Ahead
As with any infrastructure manager, much of Viv’s work is taken up with ensuring the systems and data is in place to allow the design team to more accurately complete Low-level Designs in their fibre rollout projects.
However, many Telecoms providers will find that the data they rely on, that underpins every fibre rollout in the UK, just doesn’t match the reality when their engineers arrive on the ground. Poles aren’t located where their data tells them they should be, and the detailed asset data required is not there.
This leads to additional costs and time to capture this information in many cases- forcing works teams to be recalled if there are any errors and inaccuracies,
This is something Freedom Fibre were keen to avoid going forward, in keeping with their mission to provide the best possible inclusive customer experience and led them to see how they could transform the way their high-level design process functions on a fundamental level.
As Viv outlines, ‘we just knew there must be a better way to accurately inform our understanding of an area before we even begin the design process’.
Finding a solution
Freedom Fibre first approached Gaist after seeing them present on their unique offer for fibre rollout projects at the INCA Conference – Technical Showcase in 2021 .
As Viv says, ‘it didn’t take us long to realise this was a solution that would work for us, and we integrated it in to our processes in a very short time period’
After a follow up meeting and a detailed discussion about technical requirements, Gaist were able to commence surveying and deliver the required geolocated data in a matter of weeks.
Following this, the data was quickly and seamlessly integrated into Freedom Fibre’s APX GIS system, enabling data specific to their areas of fibre rollout to be accessed by their design team from the desktop.
Viv added, ‘we could see the potential that the data has and how it could make our in-house expertise go so much further and provide our services to customers at scale, quicker than ever before’.
Getting it right first time
‘it’s made everything easier’
By combining high definition, 360-degree imagery from Gaist with existing data sources such as existing records of fibre rollout projects and highways/roadside infrastructure in key areas, Freedom Fibre are now able to correct inaccuracies at the design stage. This has enabled Freedom Fibre to do more with less, approaching each new project with confidence.
Thanks to Gaist’s data, says Viv, ‘we now feel confident in the design process that we can get it right first time’. Freedom Fibre now have up-to-date situational data they can rely on, giving them fresh, reliable data and greatly reducing wasted resources at implementation phase.
Delivering Value to Communities
Freedom Fibre have used Gaist for over 17 projects in the UK to date and have integrated the data into their processes for future projects. In their mission to drive change in their local area and further afield, the data has given Freedom Fibre a vital tool in their arsenal to drive down costs and improve the speed of roll out, all of which benefits the end user.
Viv outlined his commitment in challenging conventional thinking around fibre rollout, stating, ‘we are proud to use ground-breaking new methods to improve what we deliver to local communities’
In getting their projects right first time, the end user can only benefit from this new approach.
Get in touch today to discover how Gaist can help you improve your understanding of key infrastructure
Gaist data has transformed our planning process "
