A ‘Wireless Institute’ for telco engineers

Workplace training is nowhere best exemplified than in the telecommunications industry.

The rapid pace with which new practices, procedures and technologies change in the mobile business has raised the need for continuing education and development, requiring engineers to hone their skills on-the-job.

In Smart Communications Inc., a virtual "Wireless Institute" has been established for its engineers to address this need for constant learning. Supported by a curriculum that ranges from the basic to the more advanced specialist courses, this institute handles the complete development program of Smart engineers – everything from technical skills down to personal outlook.

"Our virtual institute teaches our engineers to become total telecoms engineers, ensuring the transfer of a combination of specialist and technical multi-skills, and complemented by business sense," says Mar Santos, former training head of Smart’s Network Services Division (NSD).

The training starts at the "cadetship" level, where newly hires undergo company organization and production orientation, basic telecoms refresher, study theoreticals on various cellular systems (with emphasis on GSM or Global System for Mobile Communications), information technology fundamentals, optimization and network issues, among other things.

To get them up to speed on the equipment and how the general network system operates, they undergo hands-on training at the two GSM and GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) testbeds that Smart has.

The testbeds, the latest of their kind in the country and the most up-to-date, are actually miniature GSM networks that serve as training laboratories for a new service, software or equipment. Each containing various kinds of base stations or cellsites, a base station controller and a mobile switching center, the testbeds allow engineers to further hone their skills in key technical areas in terms of network design, planning and implementation. Industry veterans who have undergone overseas training in telecommunications, conduct the training.

"These are engineers considered to be the mature people in the industry and who are able to provide wisdom in their profession," Santos says.

Technical skills training at the Wireless Institute depends on an engineer’s area of expertise. Each year, a training need analysis is conducted to determine whether one needs a refresher course, an intensive in-house training or further training abroad.

"We have a policy of investing a huge amount of money and time in training and making our network superior because we know this is needed if we want to maintain and widen the lead from our competitor," says Louie Tongco, the NSD’s current head for training.

But more than the technical training, Tongco takes pride that the Wireless Institute also puts value on non-technical skills such as team-building, initiative and flexibility.

"An engineer should be creative and persistent. I am proud to say that those are our engineers’ innate qualities," he says.

Tongco cites several instances when an engineer’s initiative led to more productivity at work. The SMS (Short Messaging Service) configuration in which the SMS boxes were reengineered to accommodate a bigger volume of text passing through it was a product of an engineer’s initiative. Other innovations led to the development of software programs that help monitor network performance. These programs substituted for sophisticated monitoring devices said to be worth millions of pesos.

"We have people who can do software or machine development without relying on tasks. They do it on their own. Their task is to operate the system but when they see something that needs to be developed, they take the initiative to solve it," says Tongco.

He adds that they also teach engineers the business viability of their designs and innovations. In fact, they encourage their engineers to undergo business and financial training. These and other courses such as presentation skills, engineering economics, technical business writing and other personality development courses make up the electives at the Wireless Institute.

"At our virtual school, there’s an effort to address the whole development of the engineer – developing the person not as a nerd or a techie but as a person whose focus is on achievement and innovation," says Tongco.

Needless to say, training and development are areas of interest for Smart and certainly are major considerations for any world-class engineer looking forward to joining its ranks.