Recent years have seen a marked improvement in broadband connections to residential properties. With the covid-19 pandemic increasing the amount of home working, customers are increasingly expecting enterprise-level internet connectivity in the comfort of their own homes.

In the UK, recent Ofcom figures show that the average speed of home broadband connections has increased by 60% since 2018. However, this new “higher” average download speed of 59.4Mbps is still a long way off the government target of offering 1GB download speeds to 85% of UK premises by 2025. While some of this speed gap is offset because many customers tend not to purchase packages that enable the full capacity speeds afforded by their connections, there is still much infrastructure to be built to meet government goals, as well as the expectations of consumers themselves.

Apart from the external infrastructure required, there is a need for the equipment in customer homes to be reliable. Some 70% of technical support calls fielded by ISPs about connection issues are ultimately caused by poor quality or incorrectly situated WiFi routers within the property itself.

Previously, ISPs could provide free, cheaply made WiFi routers to customers because the internet connections they were attached to were far slower than the maximum performance of the router. However, with many properties now allowing gigabit speeds, along with customers connecting many more devices to their home internet, WiFi routers with a superior performance are necessary.

Of course, such devices come at a cost, so ISPs now need to either expect their customers to pay more for this equipment, something they previously expected for free, or find some other way to offset the costs. Better home equipment should at least reduce the amount of technical support calls fielded.

The PTT course “Ethernet networks” describes the operation of Ethernet-based fixed line and wireless computer networks, including the characteristics of WiFi connections commonly found in the home.

The “Next generation access networks” course describes the components and operation of the copper and fibre-based networks that are required to provide modern, high-speed connections to homes and businesses.

Progress marches on with the old discarded and the new celebrated. Ofcom, the UK telecoms regulator has recently announced that BT, the UK incumbent, no longer has to provide a fax service under its universal service obligations.

The use of fax machines in offices around the world reached its zenith in the 1980s and 90s but fax has a very long history stretching back to the time when the telegraph was the Internet of its day.
But now, the fax machine’s beeps and screeches are set to become a relic of the past.

And so to the future: Virgin Media is trialling a 5G NR (new radio) service that covers Snowdonia, a rural mountainous area in Wales. Due to the extreme landscape, communications for mountain rescue teams and those walkers and hikers who required assistance is problematic.

The challenges of operating in this environment were overcome by using a Dragon unmanned aircraft system from Snowdonia Aerospace to provide 4G and 5G coverage. Apart from telephony, the airborne network will allow picture sharing, video calling, and the all-important location information.

No doubt Giovanni Caselli, who developed the first commercial fax service between Paris and Marseille in the 1860s, would have been impressed.

PTT doesn’t provide online courses covering fax transmission but, we do offer several courses covering mobile communications including 5G including “Introduction to mobile systems“.

The “skills gap” in the telecoms and ICT industry is well known and has long been an issue for organisations. Recruiting a diverse, well-skilled and enthusiastic workforce continues to be a challenge for employers with many struggling to recruit enough talent.

Encouraging people into the telecoms and ICT industries needs to start at a young age. While many schools are increasingly promoting STEM subjects, lack of knowledge of many industries means that children are not necessarily encouraged into the jobs that require digital skills talent. Ask an average 10-year-old and it is unlikely many will say they want to be a telecoms engineer when they grow up. Better engagement between industry and schools could hopefully change that.

The best, long-term solution to get a skilled workforce into the telecoms and ICT industries is through apprenticeships. PTT has been working with preferred apprenticeship providers for many years to provide the knowledge elements of these apprenticeships. Hundreds of individuals now study PTT courses as part of their apprenticeships every year, giving them the knowledge they need to enter the workforce equipped for a productive future.

Digital apprenticeships supported by PTT include Level 2 Telecoms Field Operative, Level 3 Information Communications Technician and Level 4 Network Engineer. Click here for more information about PTT’s role in delivering telecoms and ICT apprenticeships >>