Tech company ikeGPS (ASX: IKE) has secured an opportunity to change how power and telecommunication poles across the United States are managed, having won a contract with a large US electricity company to assess and design its power pole infrastructure through their IKE Analyze platform.
Where the humble power pole was once the shining light of modern life, the expansion of populations and need for connectivity means there’s now so many constructed that they’re becoming problematic from a planning perspective, regularly delaying construction due to permitting around their locations.
The contact win for Ike is valued at $750,000 but importantly, the analysis will be conducted on just 250,000 of the electricity company’s poles, of which they have more than 10 million across their national network, creating future opportunities if this initial project is successful.
“This agreement provides further validation of the value the IKE Analyze platform can provide to large electric utilities, and confirms the viability of the Company’s strategy to target tier-1 infrastructure operators,” said Ike CEO, Glenn Milnes.
“We look forward to working with this group and continuing to expand our customer base in North America.”
Through data capture technology and their platform, Ike is aiming to develop a national registry for pole locations with engineering data that can streamline a cumbersome process for new construction development. Getting approvals from pole owners can often take months but through Ike, the process can be streamlined.
Other applications of the data includes the re-design of pole infrastructure where the abundance of poles that have been constructed over the past century are mapped inefficiently and regularly lead to outages, frustrated customers and increased costs for operations and repairs.
Beyond this deal, ikeGPS already does pole analysis work for some of North America’s largest utility providers including Comcast, AT&T and Verizon.
Through FY20, Ike reported $9.8m in revenue which represented a 23% increase on their previous year as the Company transitions their operations to subscription billing for their services.
Alfred Chan is an Analyst at Emerald Financial, specialising in ASX-listed small cap companies.
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