The country’s most detailed map of roads and footways unveiled

Amsterdam, The Netherlands, and Skipton, UK, March 13, 2019 – UK based mobile mapping, asset gathering and condition assessment specialist Gaist today unveiled its unique infrastructure digital twin which already covers over 200,000 kilometres of the country’s roads and pathways, using more than a billion high definition images to map the highway scape of every classified road in England.

The company is able to produce highly detailed maps and images of the materials used in highways and footways as well as the location of all assets such as street furniture and chambers. Gaist is already providing a unique insight for potential fibre optic installation routes – saving installation teams and telecoms operators significant costs when rolling out FTTH networks.

Speaking on the opening day of the FTTH Council conference in Amsterdam – Europe’s flagship FTTH event – CEO Steve Birdsall said: “The whole industry knows that the fibre network is essential for meeting increased broadband demand and paving the way for the exciting possibilities of 5G networks, IoT technology and even Artificial Intelligence.

“But the costs are slowing progress as operators struggle to balance their business cases to remain on program and profitable while making such a huge investment. Access to our data helps those operators to plan the network cost-effectively and pre-warns them of problems, providing significant savings for them through improving installation times, reducing variations, and minimising disruption to roads at the same time,” he added. “This is not only good for the Profit & Loss of a company but also good for its reputation.”

Gaist has successfully mapped over 200,000km of carriageway in the UK, detailing the materials the roads and footways are constructed from and their existing condition.

In addition to the UK, Gaist has already set its sights on the international market, embarking on an ambitious project to survey the Japanese road network in collaboration with the Shimuzu Corporation.

“Our experience and services allow providers to make the right decisions, significantly reduce risk, cost and reassure investors when laying fibre-optic cables. We know the UK does not score highly when compared with other European nations’ fibre install records – but this will make a real difference and if Gaist can play a part in improving our standing in the European FTTH league table I’ll be a very happy man,” concluded Steve Birdsall.

Gaist is a multi-award-winning asset management specialist with a broad range of Government and Local Government customers and has underpinned major investment into highways infrastructure by supporting customers with robust data and long-term modelling. The company is set to revolutionise the way organisations plan the routing of fibre networks.