Telecommunications

Here are some facts and figures relating to this sector:

• 86 per cent of UK households contain at least one mobile phone
• there are more than 13 million broadband subscribers in the UK
• broadband is available to 99 per cent of UK households
• the UK’s ICT sector will grow by 4.5 per cent this year
• the total UK industry workforce is nearly one million
• UK telecommunications revenues are more than £48 billion – over 4 per cent of GDP
• UK telecommunications investment is some £10 billion, 1 per cent of all UK capital expenditure
• BT is investing up to £10 billion over the next five years to deliver the 21st Century Network
• over 75 million text messages are sent each day in the UK
• there are 4.5 million CCTV cameras in the UK – the highest number per capita in the world
• in 1997, a 16-year-old English schoolboy was said to have done more damage to the Pentagon than the KGB by hacking into military computers on at least 200 occasions
• in the two weeks after the death of Princess Diana in 1997, 580,000 email messages were received by Buckingham Palace
• optical transmission systems use lasers smaller than a grain of salt to generate signals that travel down glass fibre as fine as human hair at the speed of light
• most satellite communications systems use $60-million satellites in a geostationary orbit 20,000 miles above the Earth, with only three needed to cover the world’s surface
• the total number of mobile telephones worldwide exceeds the total number of fixed telephones
• nobody owns the Internet, runs it, maintains it, or acts as gatekeeper or regulator
• around 80 per cent of all the information on the World Wide Web is in the English language
• Google indexes 6 billion pages in 182 languages and conducts over 200 million searches a day
• the modern living room contains more computing power than was used to land Neil Armstrong on the moon.

In this brief look at telecommunications, it is only the connection between the machines at both ends of the system that will be considered. However, this is a somewhat artificial barrier to draw because software and hardware developments increasingly affect both, with the formulation and use of information becoming interlinked with its transmission and delivery. So readers should be familiar with the term ‘Information and communication technology (ICT)’ as it becomes used more frequently.

Convergence in the telecoms industry means that voice and data communications, which used to be two separate areas, are now coming together and using the same communications channels. The key to telecoms is ‘bandwidth’ – the amount of information that can be carried by a particular method of transmission like a cable or a radio wave. Modern developments involve enlarging the capacity of the links, increasing global coverage, joining end-users together, and providing more facilities over more networks.

Mobile telecoms

To most people, mobile telecoms nowadays means mobile phones, with links using radio and microwave technology; their masts and dishes can be seen all around the country.

Satellites may also be used in both mobile and static telecoms networks. Digital TV users will know of both cable and satellite services, while the military uses similar equipment; and 3G technology is now with us, with BlackBerry, PDA and quad-band devices commonplace.

Fixed telecoms

Fixed telecoms may include all the infrastructure necessary to run a local or wide area network – and links between the two. They may provide business services, telephones, television and much more besides, and may be used to transmit voice, fax, data and graphics, or any combination of these.

The most common carriers of fixed telecoms are cables. These are made from both copper and fibre-optics, and include the 11,700 kilometres of cable under the Atlantic Ocean.

Networks

Typically, a number of different commercial organisations will both provide and share telecoms network facilities. Signals pass through switches and links owned by many companies and rented by the service provider. Their routing is up to the owner of the links and a mobile phone call will be just one among many other phone and fax calls.

Messages need protocols to ensure that they get to the right place. They may need to be compressed and then decompressed, and they may be split into tiny fragments, with each one being sent separately and the whole being reconstituted.

Telecommunications in the Services

Each Service has its ‘expert’ telecoms staff in the specialist communications and electronics branches, although there may be other people serving who have considerable expertise. Some will have relevant degrees, while others will have other qualifications.

Some people will also have specialised in telecoms and/or electronics as part of their career pattern. They are still likely to have a number of very transferable and marketable skills, but these may need to be targeted in a particular area.

Service people without the necessary technical background can still enter the industry, but probably at a lower level. Their personal qualities are valued, as well as the core skills that they may bring, including map reading, first aid and even an ability to work at heights.

Telecommunications on leaving the Services

Service leavers need to discover the area of telecoms right for them and for which they can reasonably expect to have the necessary qualifications and background to enter. The Career Transition Partnership offers resettlement training courses in this area at Aldershot and also through its network of suppliers.

Individuals should talk with people working in the industry to try to establish a reasonable starting point based on their previous skills and experience. Then they should look for the courses and training that suits them. The key is to start early and take resettlement training so it can be enhanced by self-study, academic qualifications and an industry placement.

Qualifications

Industry recruiters face three main problem areas:

1. lack of qualifications

2. lack of experience

3. shortage of essential skills.

Also regarded as being of key importance to employers and possessed by Service leavers are skills such as:

• problem-solving
• oral communications
• the ability to work in a team.

People can gain qualifications through their employment and personal development while they are serving. This will primarily be about the theory necessary to use equipment, its actual use and how to pass on that knowledge to others. The academic background and the principles of certain equipment use will be highly relevant to future employment, so the key is to build up these qualifications, while those whose career path does not include such courses should look at day release, evening classes, open learning and the Internet for opportunities to learn before they leave.

A suite of National Occupational Standards and qualifications has been developed by e-skills UK – the sector skills council – and these are becoming better known by employers. Levels and types of qualification include:

• IT Diploma (in development)
• Apprenticeships and Advanced Apprenticeships
• National and Scottish Vocational Qualifications
• IT Qualification – a new suite of flexible vocational qualification for IT users (Levels 1, 2 and 3)
• IT Management for Business (ITMB) (Honours) Degree
• Foundation Degrees.

The e-skills Passport is a simple, online skills-management tool that enables an organisation or training provider to:

• assess current IT user skills
• set learning targets
• identify skills gaps
• plan more effective learning
• record staff improvement.

More than 15,000 people from more than 800 companies are already using e-skills Passports that are fully integrated with the IT Qualification.

Some major vendors, such as Cisco, have produced their own qualifications, while other bodies, like BICSI, are marketing a suite of exams in the telecoms area.

There are many short courses available that are targeted at anyone from expert to novice, and often cover specialist areas for experts who want to study a particular field in depth. They also provide a basic qualification for someone entering the industry at comparatively low level.

Employment in telecoms

Although there is a shortfall of 450,000 network engineers in Europe, including 125,000 vacancies in the UK, employment involves:

• qualifications
• experience
• networking
• work placements
• the right CV
• going for the right job.

Once in a company the employment possibilities are enormous in this changing industry. Permanent employment is often regarded as three to five years, and people commonly change employer every two years or so. In-house training meets specific company objectives; individuals use employers to enhance their own personal development, and good people can achieve rapid promotion.

The Fibreoptic Industry Association’s SkillsMatch programme allows people holding the relevant qualifications to record their achievements on its website database. Employers can undertake checks on-line, and people who are seeking employment can advertise their availability for work.

Salary expectations

This is only a rough guide – pay varies from one company and contract to another.

• engineer £15,000 to £25,000
• team leader £18,000 to £22,000
• project manager £22,000 to £40,000
• technical trainer £28,000 to £50,000
• network engineer up to £50,000

Overtime, shift work and benefits can increase these salaries.

Contact details

Communications & Information Technology Association, Suite 1C, Oak House, Woodlands Business Park, Breckland, Linford Wood West, Milton Keynes MK14 6EY Tel: 01908 220220Website: www.tia.org.uk

e-skills UK, 1 Castle Lane, London SW1E 6DR Tel: 020 7963 8920 Website: www.e-skills.com

Communications Management Association, Ranmore House, The Crescent, Leatherhead, Surrey KT22 8DY Tel: 01372 361234 Website: www.thecma.com

Fibreoptic Industry Association Ltd, The Manor House, Buntingford, Herts SG9 9AB Tel: 01763 273039 Website: www.fia-online.co.uk

Confederation of Aerial Industries Ltd, Communications House, 41a Market Street, Watford, Hertfordshire WD18 0PN Tel: 01923 803030 Website: www.cai.org.uk

Society of Cable Telecommunication Engineers, Communications House, 41a Market Street, Watford, Hertfordshire WD18 0PN Tel: 01923 815500 Website: www.scte.org.uk