A new software and data package from ESRI will help U.S. broadband service providers and telecommunications companies analyze broadband market opportunities as they prepare to apply for federal broadband stimulus funding. The Telecommunications Mapping and Analysis Package (TMAP) makes it possible to analyze cable and wire center data and locate areas ideal for broadband expansion, including rural and remote areas that are unserved and underserved by high-speed Internet.

TMAP supports activities related to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), which makes $7.2 billion available for broadband expansion activities in the United States.

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

The customizable package includes ESRI geographic information system (GIS) software (ArcGIS Desktop and ArcGIS Business Analyst) for analyzing data and communicating results in a geospatial environment. Data includes U.S. demographic, business, and street data; wire center data from Tele Atlas; cable boundary data from MediaPrints; and optional data on consumer mobile voice and data services. Companies can use the package to map existing services and analyze future needs at the state, regional, or national level.

With TMAP, you can

* Map locations of existing service provider operating areas in your state or region or at the national level.
* Identify rural and remote areas as required in your funding application.
* Analyze demographics and develop business intelligence to determine which areas will develop into a profitable market capable of sustaining new services.

About ESRI

Since 1969, ESRI has been giving customers around the world the power to think and plan geographically. The market leader in GIS, ESRI software is used in more than 300,000 organizations worldwide including each of the 200 largest cities in the United States, most national governments, more than two-thirds of Fortune 500 companies, and more than 7,000 colleges and universities. ESRI applications, running on more than one million desktops and thousands of Web and enterprise servers, provide the backbone for the world's mapping and spatial analysis. ESRI is the only vendor that provides complete technical solutions for desktop, mobile, server, and Internet platforms.