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.

This month marks the 30th anniversary of the first SMS (Short Messaging Service) message when Vodafone engineer Neil Papworth sent the words “Merry Christmas” from a computer to a mobile device.

Originally only intended as a means of internal communication for mobile service providers, the advent of affordable mobile phones meant that within a matter of years text messaging became hugely popular with the general public, peaking 10 years ago when some 150 billon SMS messages were sent in the UK alone.

While still widely used, SMS messaging has slowly been decreasing over the years as more advanced communications services are rolled out. WhatsApp, iMessage, Facebook Messenger and many other services allow for end-to-end encrypted messaging including the ability to share images, video and of course, emojis.

SMS will still likely be around for a number of years yet, with some 5.4 billion people on the planet owning a mobile device that can send and receive these messages without the need for a third party service. However, the glory days of texting are probably over and SMS is seen as being increasingly obsolete.

PTT has a range of courses covering mobile communications including “Wireless communications“, “Introduction to mobile systems” and “Mobile radio communications“.
In 2023 we will be releasing new courses “4G and 5G radio access networks” and “Advanced mobile systems” which cover the technologies that drive the latest mobile networks.

It is widely recognised that access to high speed broadband has become a necessity for businesses and homes.  To meet the demand, many companies both old and new, are increasing the spread of fibre-based broadband to such an extent that overbuild exists in certain areas of the UK.

Despite this expansion of fibre to the premises (FTTP) services, those in more remote areas, where the provision of FTTP is deemed uneconomic, still suffer from slow speed Internet access.

But there are solutions to the challenge of serving hard to reach areas. Ofcom, the national regulator in the UK, is encouraging the use of low earth orbit (LEO) satellites by opening up extra radio spectrum for LEO operation. Allied to this, the UK government has announced the trial of SpaceX’s Starlink LEO satellites to improve Internet access in more rural areas. Recent tests have shown that broadband speeds of up to 200 Mbit/s are possible with Starlink, four times the average UK speed.
The European Union has gone a stage further by announcing the development of its own LEO satellite system.

5G fixed wireless access (FWA) offers an alternative solution.  5G provides mobile users with broadband speeds comparable with many fibre services. 5G FWA harnesses this capability to provide homes and offices with an alternative to copper or fibre connections to the Internet.

Ericsson, the telecoms equipment manufacturer, predicts there will be 300 million FWA users by 2028 with much of the growth taking place in emerging markets such as Mexico, South Africa and India.

The PTT course “Wireless communications” introduces satellite and FWA services.  “Introduction to mobile systems” describes the capabilities of 5G, and “Telecoms access networks” describes the provision of copper and fibre broadband.