Telkom recently awarded a contract to AfriGIS for the validation of its rural customer market, a project that included a substantial amount of field and GIS analytical work.

"Telkom is currently rolling out a number of telephones to its rural customers," relates AfriGIS project manager Isidore Parker. "To facilitate the installation process, they had to establish exactly where these customers are located, and verify essential information such as names, ID numbers and physical street addresses."

In partnership with fieldworking company Mictert, AfriGIS set about verifying Telkom's customer information and capturing customer locality using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology. Above all expectations, AfriGIS succeeded in delivering the required results to Telkom well before the scheduled delivery date, contributing towards Telkom's objective of speedy delivery of services.

Parker adds that AfriGIS' ongoing endeavour to empower communities and previously disadvantaged individuals was also given a major boost through the Telkom project. "AfriGIS invested a substantial amount of time in training fieldworkers in the operation of high-end differentially corrected GPS and computer equipment," he says. "Community members were briefed on Telkom's project objectives and were appointed to assist in finding the right customers and capture geographic positions for each customer as specified by Telkom."

"All in all the project was successful and AfriGIS continues to pursue initiatives to contribute towards the capturing of accurate, reliable spatial information and the analysis thereof," Parker concludes.

AfriGIS

(012) 362 3114

magnus@afrigis.co.za

www.afrigis.co.za