Hello again.

With another year quickly coming to an end, we wanted to send out our final newsletter of 2010. With a nod to the shopping lists that so many of you are working on at this time, we thought we’d provide a list of 10 questions to consider prior to making your next geodata purchase. We’ve also added our latest projects and given a roundup on our latest news, including our strategic relationship with NAVTEQ.

For our next edition of the newsletter, we will be running a customer survey. Please watch for it and share your opinion with us. We also plan on having a section dedicated to answering customer questions. If you have a question to ask, please send it to and we’ll do our best to include it in the newsletter.

It’s been a busy year at ComputaMaps. It was hard to know at the start of the year if the economy was going to get better or worse. We thank you for your business and wish you all the best of the holiday season and a Happy New Year.

Recent Projects

3D projects

Bulgaria
Sofia

France
Bourg
Lannion
Lourdes
Paris

Philippines
Manila

South Korea
Seoul

Sweden
Stockholm
Karlskrona
Gothenburg

Thailand
Hua Hin
Pattaya

2D projects

Angola
Caajla
Dondo
N'dalatando
Negage
Uíge

Armenia
Yerevan

Botswana
Francistown
Gaborone

Brazil
Brasília
Campinas
Fortaleza
Goiana
Luziânia
Ribeirão Preto
Rio de Janeiro
São Gonçalo
São José
São Paulo
Sorocaba

Canada
Alberta
British Columbia
Labrador
Manitoba
Maritimes
Newfoundland
Nunavut
Ontario
Saskatchewan
Yukon

Iraq
Sulaymaniyah

Israel

Jordan
Amman
Irbid
Zarqa

Lesotho
Maseru

Malawi
Lilongwe

Mexico
Guadalajara
Leon
Mexico City
Monterrey
Puebla

Mozambique
Maputo

Namibia
Windhoek

Oman

Peru
Arequipa
Barranca
Cajamarca
Cañete
Chimbote
Chincha
Cuzco
Huacho
Huancayo
Huaral
Ica
Lambayeque
Piura
Puno
Tacna
Trujillo

Romania
Bucharest

Spain
Alicante
Almería
Badajoz
Baleares
Cáceres
Castellón
Cadiz
Canarias
Ceuta
Córdoba
Granada
Huelva
Jaén
Las Palmas
Murcia
Málaga
Melilla
Murcia
Palma
Santa Cruz
Sevilla
Teruel
Valencia

Swaziland
Mbabane

Syria
Aleppo
Damascus

Tajikistan
Dushanbe
Isfara
Istaravshan
Khorugh
Khujand
Konibodom
Panjakent
Qurghonteppa

Zambia
Lusaka

10 Questions to Ask Before Any Geodata Purchase

We know it isn’t always easy to justify an update to your current geodata project. However, when you know your data is misrepresenting the area being planned or optimized – either through local knowledge or using a mapping application on the internet – it’s understandable to want an upgrade. If your budget is tight, and it usually is, the following questions might help you make a better investment in your next geodata purchase.

What is the minimum resolution I can use to accomplish my tasks?

Just because high‑resolution data is available for an area doesn’t mean it is necessary. Urban areas can usually be planned with 5m data with an urban model. Anything higher is just going to impact your computation time at any rate.

Do I really need 3D data?

If you’re using macro models, especially outside an urban area, you can probably use 20‑30m 2D data instead of 3D data. Many vendors will give a “great deal” on a whole area, where high‑res 3D data is only really needed in an urban area with the surrounding “donut” being suited for medium resolution 2D data.

What is the vintage of the data being offered?

Not unlike software products, the latest edition of geodata based on the most recent imagery also costs the most to produce. It’s reasonable to assume this same data will also cost the most to purchase. If you’re limited by your budget, why not consider some older data for areas where you know little change has occurred?

What is the source of the data being delivered?

Related to the question above, some unscrupulous vendors will sell “new data” which they have just created based upon older vintage imagery. Understanding the vintage of the data AND the imagery is key. Whenever possible, buy geodata based on the most recent imagery possible (e.g., within the past two years).

How many clutter classes are being used?

If your RF planning processes and methods of procedure utilize clutter classes for traffic planning purposes, make sure that your new vendor can match the classes provided by your former vendor. This is where some of the finer details in geodata creation come into play. While two vendors may sell 15‑clutter class data, the actual items they include in each category may be different. This can upset a uniform planning process.

How are updates handled?

Does your geodata vendor let you purchase just the incremental updates that you require to keep your data current or do they force you to update a whole area at a time? Some vendors can support incremental updates which can provide a cost‑effective way to supply current data to your engineers.

Have I bought from this vendor in the past?

We know there are always new vendors of geodata, but the words “buyer beware” should be heeded if a new vendor is offering data at prices that seem too good to be true. There are lots of tricks that can be played, i.e., selling data at a high output resolution such as 1‑5 meters while the source data was captured at a lower resolution (20m). Having a vendor that you’ve worked with in the past means that product quality will not be compromised.

Does the vendor support you through offices in your region?

Sometimes low‑cost producers deliver their products with little pre‑ and post‑sales support. This may make sense if you’re confident there won’t be issues related to projection and accuracy of the data. However, it’s not a good deal if the data isn’t usable.

Can the vendor support your planning tool format?

The wireless market has unique requirements for geodata that differ from the needs of video game or flight simulation developers, amongst others. Ensure that the vendor has experience in delivering data in your required planning tool format and make sure you mention any specific ray‑tracing models as these often have different input requirements.

Can the vendor deliver in the timeline required?

If the vendor doesn’t have the areas you require in their on‑shelf catalogue, confirm what their delivery timeline can be. Get it in writing and, if possible, have penalty clauses attached to late delivery.

Once you’ve asked these questions and acted on the responses you can confidently make your purchase.

News & Events

NAVTEQ Strategic Partnership

ComputaMaps has signed a strategic partnership with NAVTEQ whereby the company will be supplying worldwide street‑level map data to us for sale with our wireless planning product portfolio. NAVTEQ layers, including points of interest, street vectors/names and administrative zones, can now be delivered in the appropriate coordinate system and projections to complement your existing ComputaMaps data.

ComputaMaps Researcher Recognized in DigitalGlobe 8‑Band Research Challenge

Congratulations to our colleague Batsi Gwata, remote sensing specialist, for having his paper recognized by the judges of the DigitalGlobe 8‑Band Research Challenge. His paper was titled Developing High Resolution Clutter for Wireless Network Propagation using WorldView‑2 Imagery. [ Read more...]

Mobile World Congress

It happens once a year. The world’s largest wireless show will once again be held in Barcelona, from February 14‑17. We’ll be there in our usual spot in Hall 1, stand 1C17. Come meet our management and see our latest product offering. Meetings can be set up in advance through your account representative.