In the last two decades, the Indian telecom sector, and mobile telephony in particular, has gone through several phases of expansion and diversification. It is one of the huge and fastest growing industries all over the world. Furthermore, with several new players entering the market and existing players increasing their efforts and resources to improve the telecommunication technology, the Indian Telecom sector has emerged as a chief player in the telecom market.
The liberal and reformist policies of the Government have facilitated the rapid strides in the sector by providing a business friendly environment for companies in this sector. According to a study by Groupe Speciale Mobile Association (GSMA), the mobile broadband user-base in India is expected to grow to 250 million on 3G/4G by 2017. Also, by 2020, it is projected that smartphones will account for two out of every three mobile connections worldwide and India will gear up to become the fourth largest smartphone market.
The entry of advanced technology and huge foreign investments has boosted this already flourishing sector. lately, almost every sector, including aviation, health, ports or even the Government, uses telecom technology. With upgraded technology as well as connectivity, this sector offers a vast range of career opportunities on both the software and hardware fronts. There is a massive demand for educated and qualified professionals with technical expertise in this domain.
Job Opportunities
The telecom industry in India has experienced a tremendous growth over the past few years, and India is one of the few countries that have realised its potential in the process of economic growth. Currently, about 18 per cent of the population in the villages and 82 per cent in cities are dependent on mobiles and internet. These figures prove the number of career opportunities this particular field.
With the Government taking favourable steps to provide a conducive environment for service providers and the auction of 3G and 4G services, the telecom sector is going for high-scale hiring. There is a huge demand for telecom engineers, network engineers, mobile analysts, product designers, line installers, quality analysts, telecommunications systems managers and customer service representatives. A career in this domain is dynamic, lucrative and provides good scope for growth. Perfectly qualified candidates can get employment in several reputed companies including Nokia, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel, Reliance Communications ltd, BSNl, MTNl, Idea Cellular ltd, mobile telephony, GSM, GPRS and CDMA technology, Internet protocol media systems, VoIP, data networks and many others.
Qualifications and Skills
When opting for a career in any field, whether it is in medicine, law, education or technology, the one who carefully considers the depth of his personal as well as career interests achieves success. Those having maths, science, social sciences, computers and communications in their Class XII can make a career in this domain. While working in the telecommunication sector is exciting and challenging to tech-savvy professionals, prospective students should engage in a degree program to have thorough knowledge about this industry.
Students interested in making a career in telecommunications have several technology degree options ranging from certificate programmes to diploma programmes, bachelor’s degree programmes to master’s degree programmes. Where a certificate programme helps students to learn and develop technical, engineering and other related skills, an advanced degree programme in the same field delves deeper into the essential skills and will give an all-inclusive knowledge of this industry.
However, the selection procedure for telecom sector depends on the type of course you have completed and your skills. Being the most rapidly growing industry, there is a heavy competition for the telecom jobs. Therefore, besides a degree course in this field, one should be up to date with all the required skills, and must be dedicated to regularly update themselves with the latest technology and be able to change and become accustomed to the evolving telecom industry.
Remuneration
Due to increasing demand, this field offers an enticing pay package of anything between `2 lakh and `8 lakh per annum to freshers, depending on various factors including personality, skills, academic and professional qualification. The salary may vary from one organisation to the other. Experienced telecommunication professionals are being paid high salary packages.
(The writer is executive director, Acreaty Management Consultants (P) ltd)