The UK telecommunications sector has been warned by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) of the potential security risks of using equipment made by the Chinese manufacturer ZTE.

Equipment made by another Chinese manufacturer, Huawei, is used extensively in the UK’s telecoms infrastructure but is subject to security checks by the NCSC’s parent organisation, GCHQ. It has been suggested that adding hardware from a second Chinese vendor would make these checks ineffective.

The role of the NCSC and other aspects of ensuring the security of telecommunications networks and the data held by telecoms providers are explained in the PTT course “Telecoms systems security”.

Experienced technicians take pride in finding and rectifying faults quickly, economically, and with minimum disruption to network services.

It is a skill that is perhaps taken for granted, except when it all goes wrong and the network falls apart for hours. As communications networks connect us to the services we all depend on, such disruption can have major consequences.

But is our experienced technician’s fault-finding abilities based on intuition, experience or logic, and is fault-finding a skill that can be learned?

PTT’s new online course “Network testing and fault-finding” provides the answers. Apart from describing structured approaches to fault-finding, the course describes the use of software utilities and test equipment for fault-finding and measuring network performance.

Through a series of events and social media activities, National Apprenticeship Week celebrates apprenticeships and showcases how apprenticeships benefit people, businesses, communities and our economy.

National Apprenticeship Week 2018 is co-ordinated by the UK’s National Apprenticeship Service and takes place from 5 to 9 March 2018.

Now in its 11th year, this national moment brings together everyone passionate about apprenticeships to encourage more people to choose apprenticeships as a fast-track to a great career and business growth

PTT has a keen interest in the efficient delivery of apprenticeships that are directly relevant to employers in the telecommunications and ICT sectors. PTT online courses are supporting the delivery of apprenticeships to leading telecommunications providers.