Telecommunications

In the UK:

• 86 per cent of UK households contain at least one mobile phone
• there were 6 million broadband subscribers at the end of 2004
• broadband is available to 90 per cent of households
• the ICT sector will grow by 4.5 per cent this year
• the total industry workforce is nearly one million
• the ICT workforce will grow at around 2 per cent each year for the next decade
• the UK holds 20 per cent of the European ICT market
• the UK’s telecoms market grew to €130 billion last year
• European Internet commerce is more than €680 billion in value; by 2008 this will rise to €2,210 billion
• BT is investing up to £10 billion over the next five years to deliver its 21st Century Network
• there are over 4.25 million CCTV cameras in the UK – the highest per capita number in the world.

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 comes to be 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. However, the technological advance that has made the most impact for most consumers recently has been broadband, with its extra capacity and increased speed.

Mobile telecoms

To most people, mobile telecoms nowadays mean mobile phones, which provide e-mail and Internet access, as well as fax, secure voice, imaging and many other facilities. Links use radio and microwave, and 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. As much as 90 per cent of all voice and data communications will be over mobile networks within 10 years. Third-generation (3G) technology is now here to stay, with all providers building networks capable of supporting it.

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, with the older, copper, being cheaper and more common, although the situation is likely to be different in a few years as fibre-optic cable is used increasingly. These cables are used to carry staggering amounts of information over incredible distances, including 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 qualifications, including graduate awards, degrees, apprenticeships and NVQs, based on industry standards has been developed by e-skills UK – the sector skills council, and these are becoming better known by employers. 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

Getting 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

Telecommunications Industry Association, Douglas House, 32–34 Simpson Road, Fenny Stratford, Milton Keynes MK1 1BA Tel: 01908 645000 Website: 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, Fulton House, Fulton Road, Wembley, Middlesex HA9 0TF Tel: 020 8902 8998 Website: www.cai.org.uk

Society of Cable Telecommunication Engineers, Fulton House Business Centre, Fulton Road, Wembley Park, Middlesex HA9 0TF Tel: 020 8902 8998 Website: www.scte.org.uk

Been there, done that …

Elsa Tuohey

After 12 years in the Royal Artillery, Bombardier Elsa Tuohey, a 31-year-old communications and information systems specialist, left the Army a year ago. She had seen operational service in Iraq and Bosnia, retaken her GCSE maths exam, completed an Access to University course and started an Open University programme, as well as qualifying in First Aid at Work and as an NVQ Assessor. She had also developed ‘people skills through living in close confinement with people, was ready to take responsibility for work or situations, and having to learn new skills quickly, which makes it less daunting starting a new job’.

A Career Transition Workshop gave her ‘confidence in [my] experience. They let you know just what skills you have gained from the Army that many civilians haven’t got.’ She also took resettlement training with CTTS in ‘a very well-run and useful course, which included work attachments’.

Sending her CV to recruitment agencies landed her first job, but she now works as a Voice and Data Infrastructure Engineer, ‘responsible for all the telephones on site, all moves and changes, fault-finding and everything to do with the voice network. I’m not stuck in an office – I get out and about, sorting out problems and meeting different customers. I get lots of job satisfaction and am able to take ownership of what I do.’

Paul Rawlinson

Last year, aged 50, Engineering Technician Sergeant Paul Rawlinson left the RAF on redundancy after 23 years serving all around the world. He finds all his training useful: ‘My management training prepared me for change, conflict, project and stress management. I needed these in my working life and they provide me with all the skills I need now.’ His civilian qualifications include a Certificate in Education, NVQ Level 4 and NEBS Certificate in Management, Managing Safely, IOSH Risk Assessment, Quality Audit ISO9001:2000, Higher Diploma Canine Care & Behaviour, A- and O-levels, and Engineering Management.

His Career Transition Workshop ‘was very useful and well run; it provided support and encouragement and gave me the tools’. He then took a BTEC in Project Management with CableNet Training in Bury St Edmunds. This ‘was well run under modern educational practice, using mini projects and discussion topics to develop the skills required.

‘I started a dog behaviour business about two years before I left the Service through helping out a full-time behaviourist. I took a relevant qualification online and still study. I am recommended by the local RSPCA and several vets. I also teach IT and project management; I assist in offshore expeditions as a qualified sailing instructor, and I also develop websites for small business users.’