Presenters:
Mark Lythgoe
Manager - Network Data Planning
ntl: (CWC ConsumerCo)

Dave Tong
GIS Manager, South & Midlands
ntl: (CWC ConsumerCo)

Note: As of January 25, 2001, the systems and staff referred to in the paper "Omnipresent GIS" relate to the Cable&Wireless Consumer division which was acquired by ntl last year and the approach to GIS was very much specific to what was effectively still a separate part of ntl.

However, since the beginning of 2001, a significant restructuring has taken place to integrate the C&W Consumer division into ntl and Mark Lythgoe is now confirmed as having responsibility for GIS and premise data across the new, larger ntl.

This means that ntl now has the much bigger issue of integration of a number of different GIS applications and data to address this year.

The approach outlined in the following paper is still valid however and ntl is still committed to the promotion of GIS within the business to improve and add value to those business processes.

Introduction:

The purpose of this paper is to share our vision and strategy for unlocking the potential of the spatial data on our GIS and how, as a result we can add value to our internal customers. This paper forms the basis of a number of presentations we are making during the course of this year, the AGI Conference included. In this section I want to introduce the two of us who are making the presentation and provide some background into the evolution of both our company and GIS system.

So, who are we? I am Mark Lythgoe, Network & Data Support Manager for Cable & Wireless Communications Consumer Division, which was recently acquired by ntl – my role encompasses GIS, premise and address data management and Wayleave and network legislative support. I manage a team of 34 and have been with what is now ntl for 7 years.

And Dave Tong, Team Leader for GIS with 10 staff nationally reporting in to him, plus 10 contractors working on a data reconciliation project to ensure all our data is accurate and up to date. Dave has been with CWC and now ntl for 4 years and reports in to myself.

On the 30th May this year, ntl bought Cable & Wireless Communications Consumer, which was the local access cable TV and telephony arm of Cable & Wireless. In line with the on-going consolidation of the UK cable and telecommunications market, CWC were themselves made up of four different operators - Nynex CableComms, Bell Cable Media, Videotron Holdings and Mercury Communications.

Our current GIS, Spatial Network Manager (SNM), was developed for Nynex using ESRI's ArcInfo application some 5 years ago. At the same time a network civils and electronics design application called Arcatel was developed in-house. This is used to populate the database and provides the interface between our field based Planners and SNM.

We have also implemented ESRI's ArcView, which allows the viewing and manipulation of our data. ArcView is used in conjunction with various datasets, such as postcode and franchise boundaries, railway and road networks, to produce presentation products for our internal customers, using background mapping as the foundation.

Purpose of the Presentation

We mentioned our desire to unlock the potential in our spatial data, and this brings me to the purpose of our presentation. As we all know, however good your systems or products, they are only as effective as the use they are put to. As a group we have identified the need to proactively and innovatively promote our GIS within our company so as to assist our internal customers to do their jobs more easily and effectively, thus adding value. Through this presentation we aim to share our thoughts on how this can be achieved.

Firstly, some background:

In September 1999, the GIS team successfully completed the migration of all network data held on the three legacy GIS systems from Nynex, BCM and VCL into the SNM. We are currently one year into a massive three year data capture project, focussing on capturing both network civils and fibre records. This is essential both to the success of our future strategy for GIS, and the company's focus on its customers through an efficiently managed network.

In addition we are currently developing an enhancement to our GIS, as the current system can no longer cope with the increasing demands upon it. This enhancement will involve ESRI’s SDE application. Completion of the project is expected in September. This will give us state-of-the-art technology which will significantly increase both the speed and power of our system and provide a scaleable platform to meet the demands of the future.

The Way Forward:

The company's emphasis, as with many Cable Telecommunications companies, is changing from being focussed on extensive network build, to network management. We need to ensure that the role of GIS changes accordingly, removing the mystique surrounding our systems and erasing the image of computer boffins intent only on carrying out complex commands. This is particularly important now that GIS applications are becoming so much more user friendly.

We will continue to develop our systems and applications, and the way in which we will meet the demands of the business in the years to come. However in the meantime our big challenge is how to promote our GIS and the huge data asset we hold throughout the company, and use it to add value to the business and our internal customers, thus unlocking the potential of our spatial data.

How Do We Do This?

The way that we plan to do this is by the development of a product portfolio, in catalogue form and promoted through a CD presentation. This will illustrate the many uses of our data in various mapping formats in an eye-catching and visual way - this will be the centrepiece of planned presentations to key customers internally, and is also the medium we are using in our presentation today.

This presentation features three case studies that are key examples of how we have worked with various internal and external customers in using the capabilities of GIS to meet their business requirements. These case studies are featured in our presentation today and the first is outlined in this paper, with some stills of the 3D shots used.

The future of the UK telecommunications market is very exciting. We want to put GIS at the very centre of our organisation. By stimulating our customers imagination with the visuals and case studies in our presentation we hope to open their minds to the many uses we can put our GIS to. Through this, and our strategy to make GIS more accessable (as outlined in the Vision section), our GIS will be truly omnipresent...

Case Study 1:

Here is one of the three case studies shown in the presentation and referred to in this paper. We have utilised 3D visuals to provide an example of an internal customer's requirements and how various datasets were used to meet this requirement.

In this example an internal customer, Switch Planning, required details on switch sites throughout the country, as well as enhanced details on the switch site located in the Greenwich and Lewisham franchise (switch sites are the means by which telephone and data traffic are routed throughout the country).

Putting GIS Centre Stage:

The previous case study illustrates how we have responded directly to a requirement identified by the customer, in a visually interesting and informative way. We now want to begin to proactively develop products, through a much better understanding of our customer requirements, and promote those products to assist them in achieving their goals more effectively. It is intended to produce a portfolio of all such products in a colour brochure, promoted as mentioned before by using a CD presentation.

In addition, with all of the work being carried out to capture and maintain the company's network data, and to enhance our current GIS, we need to ensure maximum availability throughout the enterprise of what is a very valuable corporate asset - again, `Omnipresent GIS'.

Our Vision for the Future

The company's high level, long term vision is to gain an `end-to-end' view of the network and all its components, which is an ambitious but necessary goal. In terms of the physical network, GIS clearly plays an important part in this vision and it is therefore essential that the systems we use have the power to meet these demands and even more importantly provide access to complete and accurate data.

The successful implementation of ESRI's SDE enhancement is therefore essential to this vision. It will provide a technically sophisticated and scaleable platform for both short term and future systems and data strategy.

For example, this year we intend to introduce intranet access to network data and are currently involved in a trial in North Chesire for the electronic exchange of network civils records between utilities, via the internet. Use of mobile GIS applications are being investigated as part of the implementation of a workforce management tool for the field operations staff, as is the use of GPS. We are implementing a strategy for the more effective management of our company address data, in conjunction with our customer management system. The use of 3D software and satellite imagery are also being considered in order to ensure we continue to provide a service of the highest quality to our customers.

We need to continue to focus on GIS strategy with an eye to the future, with a focus on innovation, ensuring we provide the company with a tool that will enhance its business processes and continue to improve the quality of information we can provide - in short, take GIS into a new era...........