In the midst of a communication revolution
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The cell phone segment has been growing at an average rate of 85 per cent in India. And industrialists predict that the growth will continue for a few more years.
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Men working on the base station tower of a mobile company .
Recent changes in telecommunication have transformed the lives of thousands of people. Today, the telecom industry is globally viewed as one of the prime movers of the modern economy. The provision of a world-class telecommunications infrastructure has become the key to rapid economic and social development of a country.
Growth of telecom
Studies have revealed that for every one per cent increase in tele-density, there is a three per cent jump in the growth of Gross Domestic Product (GDP). In a developing country like India, the telecom industry plays a very important role.
Mobile communication already accounts for about half of all telephone connections. In many places, the number of mobile cellular subscribers have exceeded conventional fixed lines.
In 1999, there were more than 300 million subscribers around the world. These figures have gone up to billions in just a few years. From two million subscribers in 2000, the number of mobile phone users in India has grown to nearly 40 million in four-and-a-half-years. The cell phone segment has been growing at an average rate of 85 per cent in India. And industrialists predict that the growth will continue for a few more years.
Flow of FDI
Till a decade ago, the telecommunication sector remained a State monopoly. Privatisation of this sector remained a dream. And today, a revolution has swept across the country, attracting loads of foreign investment. The cumulative inflow of foreign domestic investment (FDI) into the telecom sector during the last decade was well above Rs. 43,000 million. In fact, the telecom sector attracted the biggest FDI in any sector in India.
Now that the FDI is being raised from 49 per cent to 74 per cent, India's telecom industry is poised for an unbelievably giant leap. The telecom revolution has placed India's economy on a fast track, heralding prosperity. It has created thousands of jobs, changed the style of business, opened new vistas of occupations, and paid rich dividends for investors.
Job opportunities
Employment opportunities in the telecom sector are plentiful with major players like MTNL, BSNL, Bharti, Hutch, Idea, BPL, Reliance and Aircel targeting lofty goals for the future. Reliance alone has employed nearly 1,000 people in Kerala, in technical and non-technical categories.
Engineering graduates in Electronics and Communication stand a good chance to make it to the major telecom companies in the country. The technical work in a telecom firm mainly revolves around erection and maintenance of the switch or the equipment and transmission of signals.
The number of basic transmission station (BTS) towers in Kerala is poised to double in the coming years. Already, there are more than 1,000 cell pylons spread across Kerala, shared by majors such as BSNL, Idea, BPL, AirTel and Reliance. Almost all private players offer an initial monthly salary between Rs. 15,000 and Rs. 20,000 for engineers.
However, the number of opportunities in the area of soft jobs in the telecom industry is far more than hardware engineering. Sales and marketing, customer care, call centres, billing and collection, advertisement and so on are some of the other areas where telecom offers good chances for graduates with training in respective areas.
For example, BPL has 10 galleries and 45 showrooms across the State. According to K.A. Mohammed Saleem, chief operating officer of BPL Mobile Cellular Ltd., the company provides thousands of jobs directly and indirectly in Kerala. "Together, the telecom operators create revenue for the State," he said. According to rough estimates, Kerala is making an annual revenue of Rs. 3,000 crores from telecom alone.
Driven by the wave of mergers sweeping the industry and the covergence of technologies, the changes in the telecom sector would be mindboggling. Telecom groups are not just providing voice services alone; they have become suppliers of information.
Content development
Old boundaries are losing their meaning. Data traffic has overtaken voice on its domestic network. And convergence is about pushing content around several different conduits.
"Content development for telecom applications is going to hold the future," said Algiers Khalid, an engineer who is into telecom servicing in Kochi. Multimedia software development for mobile gaming has great potential. It provides a good opportunity for software computer engineers.
Java application is merging with mobile technology. Industry watchers predict that India, particularly Bangalore, would be the centre of mobile gaming. Development of games like Bruce Lee and Spiderman is cited as an example. The multimedia mobile gaming business is worth Rs. 12 crores in the country. It is projected to soar to Rs. 10,000 crores by 2007.
The knowledge of computer and connectivity could effectively be synergised for the growth of telecom, Mr. Khalid pointed out.
With all mobile operators putting a lot of emphasis on customer care, a lot of jobs exist for articulate youngsters. "The day when we provide one-hour turnaround customer care is not far," said a telecom service provider.
The next few years are going to be crucial in shaping the architecture of the world telecom. After the spectacular growth of the cell, the revolution is currently in broadband communication. The telecom sector is all set to give the information revolution a new look.
ABDUL LATHEEF NAHA
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