TELEMAR has a license to use approximately 10,000 square kilometers of 60-centimeter resolution QuickBird imagery from INTERSAT. The Brazilian telecommunications firm will use the imagery in conjunction with Basic Urban Map (MUB), INTERSAT's GIS feature, to analyze telecommunications solutions.

The combination of highly detailed satellite imagery and GIS technology enables telecommunication professionals to integrate location-based data into analysis and management processes for network planning and operations, marketing and sales, customer care, data management, and many other planning and problem-solving tasks.

"By integrating QuickBird imagery into MUB, TELEMAR has acquired an enhanced knowledge of its service area and customer needs. This new application is enhancing TELEMAR's network planning strategies and is creating investment opportunities in new technologies, which will in turn generate more appealing products to attract and hold customers," said Adriano Junqueira, telecom vertical manager for INTERSAT.

INTERSAT's MUB is an urban map created upon high-resolution satellite images. It provides sets of geographic information such as city boundaries, roads, urban streets, population and other attributes that can help urban planners achieve their mapping and planning goals.

When the telecommunications services monopoly in Brazil ended in 1998, telecom companies needed aggressive strategies for coping with market pressures in a new competitive environment. These companies sought technologies that would allow them to offer a variety of services that would attract clients while meeting the goals established by the government's regulatory bodies.

TELEMAR is the largest provider of fixed-line and mobile telecommunication services in South America and has concessions from the Brazilian Government to provide fixed-line telecommunication services in the region, which consists of 16 states including the state of Rio de Janeiro. The region covers approximately 64 percent of the country, has a population of 93 million and produces approximately 40 percent of the country's GDP. TELEMAR has approximately 18 million fixed telecommunication lines and 9 million mobile services installed, and a fiber optic cable network covering more than 31,500 kilometers.

Source: DigitalGlobe, Feb. 1, 2006.