My message for Fiber Connect goers: Now is the time to tackle inefficiencies in deployment processes

Last week, I spent a busy few days in Nashville for the Fiber Broadband Association’s 2025 Fiber Connect conference.

BEAD was top of mind, of course, but the collective resolve of the industry to move forward and find creative solutions to old and new challenges was inspiring.

Time to market is and will continue to be critical for deployment projects despite what’s happening with BEAD, so in order to be successful providers must find efficiencies across various deployment workflows. This can give service providers a competitive edge in new bids and re-bids alike.

Some of the questions to ask yourself: Are we making the most of existing technologies? Are there features that we’re not taking full advantage of? Are there version upgrades that we should be considering? And one that I find is most commonly answered with “No”: Are our systems and workflows connected in an end-to-end manner?

IKE’s pole data collection and analysis solutions are built on a field-to-finish mentality. We empower our customers to safely and efficiently capture the pole data and imagery necessary to help them make intelligent decisions. We then aggregate that data into a single pane of glass, where all parties can collaborate and then ultimately deliver it downstream to its respective home.

Here are the common workflows and processes IKE can impact in meaningful ways:

1. Field Data Collection

IKE enables a solo fielder to capture engineering-grade, calibrated pole and network data faster than traditional methods. This significantly reduces fielding time and labor costs, reduces safety risk and ultimately helps providers move from planning to construction more efficiently.

2. Pole Attachment & Make-Ready Engineering

IKE Office Pro streamlines the data collection and documentation required for pole attachment and make-ready assessments. It also facilitates smoother collaboration with pole owners and engineering partners by enabling users to grant authorized third parties access to pole data. This reduces the back-and-forth with pole owners, lowers the risk of attachment rejections and accelerates the permitting process, keeping fiber projects on schedule.

3. Engineering

By digitizing and automating traditionally manual workflows and offering project status tracking, IKE Office Pro helps teams eliminate inefficiencies, reduce errors, and operate consistently across deployment projects – resulting in faster rollouts and better team coordination. And it ultimately helps get your pole data where it needs to go (e.g. downstream applications like PLA tools or customized reports) via integrations, APIs, and an array of export and reporting features.

4. Joint-Use Permitting

IKE eliminates manual inputs and human error in NJUNS ticket work, reducing costs and time to project completion. IKE’s AI-powered process utilizes customer-provided data to create, populate, and update tickets via API.

Schedule a demo to see how IKE empowers broadband providers to accelerate deployments with advanced overhead asset management solutions.

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Brett Willitt is a Senior Vice President of Product for ikeGPS. Brett has more than 25 years of grid asset management experience and is widely considered one of the leading structural analysis and structure management experts in the US. He holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Clarkson University.