Deciding where to build a telecommunications tower can involve a maze of data covering population patterns, network coverage, demand growth and geographical conditions. EDOTCO Group is using artificial intelligence to make that process significantly faster.
The telecommunications infrastructure provider developed its Network Planning & Analytics (NaPA) platform to bring planning, geospatial and operational data into a single system. The platform allows planners to identify coverage gaps, assess potential tower locations and compare network rollout options without relying on multiple reports.
The bigger shift came with NaPA GPT, an AI-powered conversational interface built on Microsoft Azure that allows planning teams to query the underlying data using natural language.
Previously, teams could depend on EDOTCO’s Data Science team to prepare datasets before analysis could begin, with more complex requests taking between three days and a week.
NaPA GPT can instead process planning queries and produce a ranked shortlist of potential network investment areas within minutes based on predefined criteria. Planners can then refine the results by asking follow-up questions, such as prioritising locations near transport corridors or areas undergoing rapid development.
The system is built using Azure Container Apps, Azure Blob Storage and Azure Generative AI, while NaPA also provides selected government agencies with customised infrastructure dashboards.
“As we innovate with AI, our goal is to rethink the way planning gets done, to ensure our teams spend less time gathering and navigating data, and more time evaluating future network investment opportunities,” said Pradeep De Almeida, Director of Engineering Technology & Innovation at EDOTCO Group.
EDOTCO is now exploring predictive planning, what-if simulations and AI-assisted recommendations for future network investments, with potential applications extending to regulatory planning and smart city development
