TELECOM TRAINING: Telecom Training: Tie up, Train…Retrain

Training Scenario

The telecom training market in India is still in its nascent stage despite the presence of several telecom service providers offering various services.

BSNL being the largest employers of telecom professionals in India, its training need are also sizable. As such, it has set up large-scale in-house training facilities for its professionals. Among private operators, Reliance and Bharti also reportedly have in-house training teams. These teams take care of the training needs of professionals, once the training contracts with vendors are over. Reliance has also set up an open-for-all training institute to cater to the growing needs in various areas of specialization. Large user organizations also have training requirements for their in-house networking departments.

n Market Size: As the market is not mature and organized enough, it is really difficult to assess its size in terms of value. BSNL is reportedly spending around Rs 100 crore through its Advanced Level Telecommunications Center and various regional training centers on training and skill upgradation of its employees. (BSNL professionals get their training from Advanced Level Telecommunications Training Center, Ghaziabad besides the regional centers which are about 44 in number.) One good news is that ALTTC is considering to open up its training facility to private operators. Some operators have even approached ALTTC for the purpose.

Approximately the same amount is being spent by the private sector on training its employees. This spending is largely accounted for, both by the vendor-specific training on products as well as training in new and emerging technologies. A very small fraction of this is also being spent on non-technology training areas like marketing and customer care. Bharti has spent about Rs 20 crore to set up Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management in association with IIT Delhi.

n Healthy Growth Projected: It is projected that at a 20–25 percent growth in the telecom industry, the market for telecom training and education will be in the range of Rs 350-400 crore in the near future. A study by Arthur Anderson (commissioned by the British Council) estimated that in the near future, the market will be around 55 million pounds.

Academy–Industry Initiatives Are a Growing Trend

Some training institutes have come up as a result of the efforts of service providers. These institutes are clearly an attempt to create a pool of trained professionals for internal consumption. However, they do hint at a growing awareness in the industry for the need to provide training to employees as well as potential recruits.

Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management
(http://www.iitd.ernet.in/bsttm/)
The Bharti School of Telecommunication Technology and Management was established in 2000, through a financial grant made to the IIT Delhi by Bharti Enterprises, a leading telecommunication company. It has two programs—MTech in telecommunication technology and management and MBA with a focus on telecommunication systems management. But the number of students admitted for these programs is only 10 which is too small a number, though the admission process is rigorous.

Ushamartin Academy of Communication Technology
(http://www.uactindia.org/)
Ushamartin Academy of Communication Technology (UACT) is a finishing school established as a joint venture between the Usha Martin Group and the IIT Madras. The main academic resource of UACT is the TeNet group of IIT Madras, an R&D house engaged in the development of telecom products. UACT supports research and development activities in telecom software and hot technology areas like WAP, GPRS, EDGE, 3G, Bluetooth, VoIP, SIM Toolkit, and WML.

Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology
(http://www.da-iict.org/)
Dhirubhai Ambani Institute of Information and Communication Technology set up in Gandhinagar, set up by Reliance under an MoU with the Government of Gujarat, is aimed at making for India’s present inadequate technology professional resource base. The institute was recently awarded a university status. It will offer education, research, and training programs in information and communication technology at certificate, undergraduate, postgraduate, and doctoral levels.

The study pointed out that there is continued pressure on admission at premier institutions. To be easily absorbed in the industry, graduates from other institutions will need to undergo training in order to gain knowledge and build specific skill-sets. It is the quality of manpower that will primarily cause the manpower demand-supply gap in the telecom industry—hence the need for training.

n Little Scope for Specialized Training: While no one can doubt the potential, the business of specialized education or training in telecom is not considered lucrative enough. This is because while the working professionals have been too busy to spare time for training, telecom has not attracted engineers or MBAs, the way IT, finance or management consultancy did some time ago. Moreover, those already working in the industry will need to train themselves in the new technology, business and policy areas. Education and training in all aspects of technology, business and policy is needed to attain "the right mix of knowledge necessary to survive in a highly competitive environment," according a senior telecom professional with years of national and global experience.