Pioneering telecommunications data management for the Czech Telecommunication Office

CTU needed a tool that could process large amounts of data and formats with no code

As part of the regulation and control of the telecommunications market in the Czech Republic, the Czech Telecommunication Office (CTU) carries out a wide range of activities, including measuring signal levels in the field, measuring data connection speeds, performing coverage calculations based on data from operators, checking the fulfillment of development criteria, and more.

During its activities, the CTU needs to access external data and work with a whole range of diverse data and GIS formats. All this data must be validated, imported into the database and visualized within the web map application VPortal. On top of that, the selected datasets need to be available to the general public for download. 

CTU sought the help of Safe Software partner CSmap, whom they had already been working with successfully for ten years. Together, they decided to develop a web mapping application where they could share the data they collect both internally and publicly. While they were mandated to share the data as the regulator of the telecommunications market in the Czech Republic, they also saw opportunities for better use of the available data. CSmap created the map portal, and as part of the whole system, they naturally chose to incorporate FME. FME was also selected for the CTU to help them continue to scale and grow.

Widespread use of FME at the core of their system is the key

The adoption of FME was a game-changer for CTU. They were using FME Form at the beginning of the project, and with the help of CSmap, CTU could perform simple conversions of formats such as MS Excel or CSV.  It soon became apparent that this was not the final solution, but it showed the possibilities of what FME could help them achieve.

The next step was the deployment of FME Flow, which was used in two instances. The first workflow handled all data processes within the CTU network, including validation procedures, data imports, and report creation, and the second primarily distributed data to the general public from the VPortal web application.

Currently, 12 instances of FME Flow and more than 200 workspaces are deployed in CTU’s system, many of which are integral for the optimal performance of the VPortal application. FME sits at the heart of CTU’s data processing operations, facilitating the journey from data import through transformation to final output export. FME has revolutionized CTU’s workflow, saving countless hours of manual work daily.

The collaboration between CTU and CSmap, underpinned by the powerful capabilities of FME, exemplifies a successful solution that not only meets the immediate needs of CTU but also lays the groundwork for future advancements.