2023 marks the 30th anniversary of PTT’s formation and the start of its provision of e-learning for the telecommunications sector.

Back in 1993 commercial access to the Internet was in its infancy, Nokia had just launched its first hand portable GSM phone, fax machines were in every office, and PTT launched its first e-learning course on floppy disks (remember those?).

Thirty years later, fibre to the premises and fifth generation mobile services provide ever faster access to the online services we all depend on. And PTT provides an ever-expanding catalogue of online courses covering technical aspects of modern telecommunications.

The deregulation of the telecoms sector that began in the 1980s saw more companies joining the sector with cable TV providers in the UK allowed to also provide telephony services in 1991. In the 2020s, competition is very high with new entrants contributing to the dramatic expansion of the availability of fibre broadband services.

So, what does the future hold? The retirement of second and third generation of mobile services with the expansion of availability of 5G is likely to continue in 2023. 5G has been designed to support innovative new cloud-based services including those involving the Internet of Things, private 5G networks, and mobile edge computing. Perhaps the most important task for telecoms operators in the years to come will be advising their business customers on the benefits these new ways of working can provide.

PTT’s mission throughout the last thirty years has been to ensure those working in the telecoms and ICT sectors are kept informed of the new technologies that have transformed the sector.

We continue this in 2023 with the release of two new online courses providing a comprehensive and detailed treatment of LTE and 5G mobile networks.