Deployment and maintenance of infrastructure is a costly exercise, whether it be in the ITC or the energy industry. Aside from the material costs involved, other costs, such as obtaining of easements, adds to the expense of initial deployment. The digital divide is widening between developed and developing countries, and between urban and rural areas in a country, yet the costs of bridging that divide and rolling out the necessary fiber and maintaining it, means that innovative solutions need to be considered.
Our team of ICT and Energy experts worked with electricity and telecommunication companies in NZ to identify the convergence between infrastructure needed to deploy and maintain the differing networks. The project involved analyzing how the rationalization of the use of the infrastructure between these two low-risk, high-capital investment sectors could be used as a potential competitive advantage for a new entrant ICT investor. How the convergence model could allow a new entrant to overcome the competitive advantage that an existing strong incumbent had in its existing legacy ICT infrastructure being used as a barrier to new entry. The team of ICT and commercial experts developed and analyzed the convergence strategy and advised on workable models for the client to capture the benefits of the emerging convergence opportunities to enhance the client’s new entry strategy into ICT.
Recognizing the ICT and energy backbone transmission synergy - low-risk, high-capital investments – allows the unlocking of economic, social, and environmental benefits through the commonality of infrastructure build and infrastructure maintenance by combining these activities in ICT and Energy sectors.