(L-R): Ashok Muthu, Head-of Service Excellence edotco Group and Kamarul Muhamed Group CEO of Aerodyne Group
edotco, a Malaysia-based integrated telecommunications infrastructure services company and a leading solutions provider, Aerodyne, have plans to futureproof edotco’s business by implementing next-gen tech. Both companies began their collaboration when they implemented innovative drone technology in its business operations.
edotco Group Service Excellence Head, Ashok Muthu shared, “Working with Aerodyne the past 18 months, we have completed 400 drone flights using drones. As a result our reporting turnaround time has tremendously improved by 50% and there is 35% reduction in infrastructure inspection times which results in faster data collation and report generation.”
edotco is harnessing Aerodyne’s aerial capabilities to boost efficiencies in daily operations comprising infrastructure site audits, routine preventive maintenance surveys, network assessments, as well as monitoring for revenue assurance. On top of this, are plans to integrate more artificial intelligence and machine learning processes, to further enhance efficiency.
Founder and CEO of Aerodyne Group Kamarul Muhamed shared, both companies have been working closely on something called cellular on wings (CoW), which has a lot of potential in areas with no cellular service coverage.
Aerodyne and edotco recognise CoW’s potential during natural disaster events, as well.
“For instance, during a flood when communications are down and sites are obstructed, we can deploy drones equipped with CoW technology, to ease the issue of connectivity immediately. Besides natural disasters, this technology can also be used at areas of high cellular traffic such as sports stadiums,” explained Kamarul.
Though it is still in trials here, Kamarul revealed that this technology has been deployed in a remote area in Australia.
Drones in edotco’s operations
Additionally, the application of drones in this field has mitigated safety risks by removing the need for technicians to perform tower climbs to conduct manual equipment inspection.
Aerodyne revealed, they have been able to successfully deliver cost savings of 5%-20% on average, when their drones are deployed for similar applications in the telecommunications sector.
Aerodyne was recently ranked 3rd among drone service providers globally, moving 4 spots up since the last ranking. As of 2018 they have completed over 62,500 flight operations, inspected more than 265,500 assets and surveyed more than 55,000 km of power infrastructure.
