The telecommunications industry has gone through many changes in its history from telegraphic messages in the 1830s to high-speed access to the Internet in the 2020s. But the rate of change from a technological viewpoint has significantly increased in this century.

Mobile communications in particular has been subject to major changes in capabilities and infrastructure. The second generation of mobile systems were first deployed in the 1990s while the third generation came in the early 2000s. Now operators already have plans to retire their earlier systems and replace them with 4G and 5G networks. For example, Digi Communications has recently announced it has shut down its 3G network in Romania. The UK plans to phase out 2G and 3G by 2033 but some UK operators including Vodafone and EE has revealed plans to phase out 3G by 2024.

Meanwhile, TDC NET in Denmark has implemented its first Standalone 5G (5G SA) mobile service having launched a non-standalone service three years ago. Vodafone launched its 5G SA service in several UK cities in June of this year.

5G SA does not rely on a neighbouring 4G (LTE) network and can therefore provide the eco-system required for new innovative services.

PTT offers a range of online courses that will keep you up-to-date with telecoms technological changes including those covering 4G and 5G mobile systems.

For individual users, to celebrate our 30th anniversary, we are offering 30% off our bundle of 5 online courses covering mobile and wireless networks and services.

One of the main challenges for telecommunication service providers is ensuring that their staff have the necessary skills to effectively manage their networks.

Some 60% of the engineering workforce in the industry is currently over the age of 50 and will soon be nearing retirement. With there already being an acute labour shortage in the field, telecoms providers will increasingly need to backfill these technical roles with a new generation of engineers equipped with the talent and skills required to maintain and build increasingly complex and modern communications networks.

Addressing the skills gap in the telecommunications industry has its own unique challenges. Telecommunications is subject to rapid shifts due to market trends, regulations, and technological breakthroughs. This makes it difficult for companies to predict the exact skills they will need in the future. For this reason, ongoing training and re-skilling is necessary for all within the workforce.

PTT has for over 30 years provided up-to-date training for telecommunications engineers. Whether it’s for new entrants to the industry, or re-skilling existing staff, PTT has a wide range of courses covering communications technology.
PTT courses can be used as a standalone training solution to give staff required theoretical knowledge of telecommunications subjects or can be used as part of an apprenticeship scheme.

To discuss your training needs and to find out how PTT can address the skills gap within your organisation, please contact us.

Disruption of access to the Internet can cause, at least, frustration and more seriously can have significant economic and welfare consequences.

A large proportion of Internet traffic is carried over optical fibre cables. But because of the environment they inhabit, cables are particularly vulnerable.

Some of the more well-known causes of disruption to communications include construction workers drilling through cable ducts and boats dragging their anchors over submarine cables.

But other causes of disruption are more surprising. Thousands of people in the UK recently had their broadband restored after it failed because rats chewed through cables. Engineers discovered nesting rats had chewed through ducting, outer casing and multiple cables – equipment which usually needed a drill to get through.

Talking of wildlife, there also have been reports of sharks biting through submarine cables leading to changes in cable design to inhibit their appetite.

But the unpredictability of the effect of human activities on online access surpass wildlife any day:

For 18 months, at precisely 7am every day, the broadband signal in a tiny Welsh village simply vanished. Engineers were sent to the remote settlement to investigate the problem. They spent days testing connections and replacing cables until they finally got to the root of the problem – one villager’s old television. The resident turned his second-hand television on each day at 7am. It created a burst of “electrical noise” that brought down the neighbourhood’s broadband.

Wireless signals aren’t immune to unintended consequences either. Mobile network operators have reported an increasing problem of trees planted near base stations obstructing mobile signals. These trees were planted as part of the planning conditions to ameliorate the environmental impact of new mobile sites. An operator was recently quoted as saying: “Trees grow but mobile antennae don’t!”

PTT doesn’t provide courses on rats, sharks, old televisions, or trees. But we do offer a range of telecoms related courses including those covering cable installation and protection and finding faults.