Client: A national broadband service provider

Problem statement

The client required an informed opinion on the distribution of demand for a new service it had conceived. The client needed to understand where in the country the service would be relevant and the mix of products that could be sold in these areas.

The solution approach

BMI-T has compiled a geographical database with over 45,000 points across South Africa where people shop, bank, manage their health and are educated. BMI-T has a deep understanding of the communications requirements of these users and how to segment this universe into appropriate classes of communication. Using this approach and estimates of future bandwidth requirements, BMI-T was able to determine the bandwidth profiles of nearly 1,000 towns and suburbs in South Africa. These were ranked and prioritised. Since connectivity to open access fibre was a key element of the design, the relative proximity of fibre connection points could be determined.

Outcomes achieved

Through the project, the client was provided with a reasoned and informed data set that allowed it to prioritise towns that met determined economic levels. The client was far better equipped to plan the rollout of the service based on solid data rather than simple intuition as previously applied in their planning.