"Over the term of the Program, Pointerra will be paid a price...

"Over the term of the Program, Pointerra will be paid a price per pole/structure inspected and analysed using Pointerra3D. The Company expects that up to 4 million poles could be inspected and analysed using Pointerra3D during this time. Pointerra has previously been paid between US$20 and $40 per pole for similar processing, inspection and analysis work. "

The term "inspection" to me indicates a possible field component and is used a few times. $20 to $30 per pole for pure automated analysis would be conversely absurd pricing if I were buying it - unless it isn't fully automated - so office "inspection". That seems like an opportunity to automate - check out what SiteSee are doing with telecom towers.

To me it still reads like they outsource the capture and on charge. Someone who has read the financials may remember a line item to this end given the "similar" past processing. This sort of capture is somewhat specialised and possibly not something the utility owner is not willing to do - so a bit of a JV.