A GIS Approach to the Spatial Assessment of Telecommunications Infrastructure

Telecommunications infrastructure has become the most extensive spatial structure in a region. This paper proposes a geographical information systems (GIS) approach for analyzing the adequacy of a regional broadband infrastructure by spatially relating infrastructure facilities with demand. The paper highlights the inherent difficulties of dealing with conceptual and geometric incompatibilities in the overlay analysis of telecommunications infrastructure and demands, and suggests a new method for achieving meaningful data integration, based on an extension of Chrisman's transformational approach. The method is illustrated by an analysis of the telecommunications infrastructure in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]