Telecommunications Human Resource Association in the U.S

Telecommunication HR Landscape

HR in the Telecommunication industry have amazingly not changed that much during the past years of the crisis. While Many industries have cut salaries and positions over the past years, telecommunication companies have increased incentives and created more jobs, especially in the technology area. The increase in the internet TV and wireless market have provided telecommunication companies the resources and incentives to continue to grow and employ greater amount of people. H.R practices in the telecommunications industry have increasingly become more efficient and better overall. A way in which telecommunication companies measure their HR practices is through the: Cable and Telecommunication Human Resource Association

The CTHRA is the most prominent telecommunication human resource association in the U.S.

The CTHRA is a forum for H.R professional working in over 100 telecommunication Companies.

This Forum is very useful tool for telecommunication companies trying to measure their efficiency, leadership excellence and HR practices. The CTRHA also annually nominates companies with the best practices in the industry.

Telecom leader in Australia fears monopoly..

Optus chief executive, Paul O’Sullivan, fears that major Australian telecom competitors joining forces will hurt customers and the industry far more than improving it. An article explains: “He cautioned that Telstra should be prevented from using the $11bn in payments it will receive for its customers as a way to subsidise their transfer to the NBN. He said this will create an "uneven playing field" where other service providers will be disadvantaged as their costs of customer acquisition will be significantly higher” (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/telecommunications/nbn-co-should-be-replaced-by-rba-like-body-says-optus-chief/story-fn4iyzsr-1226013358950).

One of the ways the Optus chief executive plans to combat this is by allowing regions to be responsible for their own customer satisfaction within Optus. He wants to see competition within the company bring higher satisfaction to customers while giving those responsible for their region a positive incentive for investing in customer satisfaction.

By recognizing the cares and concern of the people and wanting to provide them with the best possible service, he is working to avoid being ignored in the increased competition between Optus and other companies. “"There will be a land-grab in the first years of the NBN," he said. "It will in fact be ‘stickier' for customers than any previous service, as it will be carrying television, broadband and (things like) cloud services. It will be difficult to churn" ” (http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/telecommunications/nbn-co-should-be-replaced-by-rba-like-body-says-optus-chief/story-fn4iyzsr-1226013358950).

O’Sullivan wishes that the government and other companies would recognize the impact on telecommunication competition that will be had if Telstra and NBN Company do join forces. As a leader of Optus he is certainly making his points to the public for why he stands against the partnership and is doing what he can in the meantime to help his clients and potential future clients.

Optus chief executive, Paul O’Sullivan, said "There is a huge cliff edge for any second entrant who wants to be a challenger in those application areas," he said. "I don't have the answers, but I think it's a debate that needs strong discussion if we're to avoid the development of monopoly-type providers in the application world"(http://www.theaustralian.com.au/australian-it/telecommunications/nbn-co-should-be-replaced-by-rba-like-body-says-optus-chief/story-fn4iyzsr-1226013358950)

Telecomm Jobs Landscape

The telecommunications industry is showing decent workforce trends during the present economic downturn. A survey by the Cable and Telecommunications Human Resources Association in March 2010 showed generally positive results in terms of employee turnover rate. The annual involuntary turnover rate for the combined telecommunications and cable industries saw a small 0.5% increase from 2009 to 2010. However, voluntary nonexempt, voluntary exempt, voluntary, and overall turnover rates went down. One possible reason for this data is that the job market in the telecommunications, like many other industries, did not have a significant number of new openings. The other possible reason is that capable human resources and leadership methods have made for greater employee engagement leading to lower turnover.

The wireless industry is expected to see continued growth in wireless technology. cvtips.com predicts that we will see a growth in technology that use wireless communications, such as personal devices, appliances, and products related to telehealth. The market growth of these products will create jobs for computer engineers, programmers, and technicians involved in installation.

As many know, the telecommunications industry is seeing the expansion of the wireless sector and the lessening of the wired sector. This has both positive and negative effects for the telecommunications work force. Minority employees make up a larger proportion of the wireless sector than the wired sector. However, the wireless sector does not pay as well as the wired sector of telecommunications.

Info obtained from:

http://www.cvtips.com/career-choice/job-market-trends-in-telecommunications.html

http://www.cthra.com/focus.php

http://www.civilrights.org/publications/employment-trends/

R&D innovation for European telecom operators

As noted Andrea Fumagalli(2009), “Today, innovation is key to creating lasting competitive

advantage. But European telecommunication operators hardly control their innovation processes. Instead, innovation is usually based on technology provided by external partners.”  Therefore, it will be no doubt that innovation is the only way to survive in this competitive environment.  In the case of USA, telecommunication leaders including AT&T are investing remarkable money on boosting technology. With this trend, few European telecom companies come to know they can guarantee competition when they focus more on R&D part. In this process, European companies are struggling to take advantage of technology by collarborating with other partners. However, sometimes, their trial for providing innovative technology meets some fail because of lack of experience and disharmony with partners.  Now this is time to mapping innovation,which can learn from usa companies. Andrea Fumagalli(2009) said again, “Additionally, the application of some vendor management concepts to the R&D function has helped the telecom operator increase their influence on technology suppliers and gain a technology advantage over the competition.”

Andrea Fumagalli(2009) , R&D innovation for European telecom operator, http://www.atkearney.com

Emerging Markets and new Telecommunications companies

The telecommunication industry was previously dominated by a few, extremely influential companies which not only controlled the market but also the technology. However, with the rise of China, India and many other emerging economies the telecommunication industry landscape has began to change.

A great example of this is China Mobile which is directly controlled by the Chinese government. China Mobile which controls 70% market share in China also has a network that covers 97% of China. A telecommunication company that has 70% market share and 97% network coverage in the world's most populated and fastest economically developing country is indeed going to change the investment and technology development scenario in the industry. In 2007 China mobile purchased Paktel of Pakistan and announced its future plans involve the purchasing and investment of foreign companies.

Another great example of telecommunication companies in emerging markets is MICC (Millicom International Cellular). MICC has networks that cover 20 countries in 3 continents (Africa, South America, Central America). MICC has brought a new way of business to the telecommunication industry as it charges per second and not per minute; the main reason behind this being that most of its customers come from the poorest areas in the world. MICC strategy to charge seconds and not minutes has given the company a competitive advantage compared to other established carriers which prove to be too expensive for low income populations.

With the ongoing development of telecommunication companies in potentially lucrative emerging markets, it will be interesting to see in the near future how established companies in the industry will cooperate or clash with the newcomers.

Alliances made in the world of telecommunications

A year ago the Wholesale Application Community (WAC) came together from an alliance of “major organizations in the telecommunications industry” (http://www.sap.com/press.epx?PressID=14765). SAP being the service provider that has now allied with WAC, has moved the power in the hands of the mobile application providers. The goal of WAC is to “simplify the development, distribution, and sales of mobile applications across heterogeneous platforms and multiple operators via a unified software development framework” (http://www.sap.com/press.epx?PressID=14765). SAP already has 81% of the top service providers as clients which is huge for those companies who make up WAC (http://www.sap.com/industries/telecom/index.epx).

Companies trying to make an impact in the decisions of service providers will have more control and influence than they probably ever had before. For the consumers who use either or both products, there will be hope of improved services from both of the groups. There has been a recent stir in increasing the accessibility people have to spending money via mobile phones; this will undoubtedly effect not only the applications but the businesses providing a means of purchasing their products.

Aside from noting the interest in potential revenue opportunities the SAP press release has not stated any specific area in particular or other incentives for the alliance outside of improving relations. Seeing such an increase in mobile phone usage one can see why a provider would seek close relationships with the complementary products to their own. The actions will surely be noted by the public as most likely anything done during the alliance via the alliance will impact the majority of the world.

Sources:

http://www.sap.com/press.epx?PressID=14765

http://www.sap.com/industries/telecom/index.epx

Opportunities for Entrepreneurs: Past and Present

Emerging markets are playing a significant role in the telecommunications industry. Examples of emerging markets include Southeast Asia, Africa, and even China. Consider what countries have the room for the most growth. In India, 18% of people have cell phones.* Also, only 38% of people living in China use cell phones.* Companies providing service to these countries have vast room to grow. One must be careful when considering where opportunities lay for the telecommunications market in developing countries. For instance, there may be plenty of room for growth in India, but a fellow B.R.I.C. country, Russia, already has a saturated market. Just because a country is a developing country does not mean that the country has large opportunities for telecommunications growth.

Three companies that are taking advantage of these markets are MTN Group, China Mobile, and Millicom International Cellular. MTN Group is seizing opportunities for growth in the Middle East and Africa. It has 14.9 million customers in Nigeria and 14.1 million customers in South Africa.* China mobile has lots of room to grow in its home country where, as stated before, only 38% of people living there use cell phones*. Millicom International Cellular is another emerging company with “third quarter results show[ing] year-over-year subscriber growth of 77%”.* Millicom’s largest customer base is in Central America.

Aside from market expansion, the telecommunications landscape has not changed as a result of entrepreneurs. Developments in the industry have mainly come from large, existing companies. The cell phone was developed at Motorola by Dr. Martin Cooper. The World Wide Web was the making of Tim Berners-Lee when he was working at the European Particle Physics Laboratory. The monopolization of the telecommunications market for many years in the United States and other countries probably resulted in the lack of entrepreneurial achievements in the field. One notable exception is Tom Carter, who invented the Hush-a-Phone, which enable people to speak in a whisper while on a telephone, and the Caterfone, which allowed radio calls to enter the telephone system.

*Numbers from 2007.

Information obtained from:

http://seekingalpha.com/article/57038-four-emerging-telecom-stock-picks

http://www.cellular.co.za/cellphone_inventor.htm

http://www.w3.org/People/Berners-Lee/

http://som.csudh.edu/cis/lpress/471/hout/telecomhistory/

Entrepreneurship

 In what areas of the industry are there opportunities for unnovation?

   Section 4  Entrepreneurship

Today’s cutting edge technologies make it possible entrepreneurs to provide more advanced device with cutting down price. As R.M.Chaturevedi(2007) noted “Many websites provide us with options to chat, talk, exchange files and do video chatting without any costs.”, their business models generate considerable revenue and profits through other subsidiary resources.  Extending telecommunication technology scope from urban area to rural makes entrepreneurs find new blue ocean market.

Mobile phones have wide compatibility with other devices, which can provide remarkable opportunities on entrepreneurial spirits. Also, they also have strong influences on all sectors of society.  By adding cutting edge attractions to mobile devices, they can enhance both the entrepreneur and the customer value.  We can also check out the new trends in the R.M.Chaturevedi(2007) ‘s article, “with the growth in Business Process Outsourcing (BPO), Call Centers, Application Service Providers, media applications and others, telecommunication traffic in voice, data, video and mobile segment is poised to grow”. Recently, providing combined diverse devices with integrating services leads the new trends in telecommunication sector. With these trends, Small entrepreneurs can get a future potential chance to enter the original market, which makes them focus on core strength.

1. R.M.Chaturevedi, 2007, Entrepreneurship in telecoms sector, Research Journal Entrepreneurship,vol.5

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Reference ariticle; "innovative entrepreneur in telecommunication"

TELECOM ENTREPRENEURIn the 1960s, Goeken filed for an FCC license for his two-way radio company, Microwave Communications Inc. (MCI), but the big phone companies moved to block him. This undaunted entrepreneur carried the fight to the telecom giants, ultimately forcing the cataclysmic breakup of AT&T and igniting the rocket growth in today's voice/data communications market.

Goeken is "very good at being very aggressive" if he thinks he's right, says Rodney Joyce, an attorney who worked with Goeken at In-Flight Phone, an air-to-ground voice and data service provider. "He is, for sure, single-minded," Joyce says. "He does not give up. He continues to fight and fight. And when the battle appears lost, he revises his strategy and comes back fighting even harder."


The son of a Lutheran minister, Goeken grew up with little money as a child, says his daughter Sandra Goeken, president of The Goeken Group. "He was brought up in the school of hard knocks. That made him extremely tenacious," she says, discussing her father's impact on the business world.

"Yes, he created competition in the telecommunications industry, but it's more than that," Sandra Goeken says. "It starts with the attitude that 'Where there's a will, there's a way' [and] that the little guy can make a contribution. He had no money and no education, yet he singlehandedly broke the AT&T monopoly. No one else can take credit for that. We'd probably still be using black rotary phones without modular jacks if it weren't for Jack."
But for Jack Goeken, the realization of the idea is the payoff, Sandra Goeken adds. "He really loves the challenge of finding a market need and filling it with a product or service. For him, it's the creating that's exciting. He was convinced that MCI was going to change America for the better."

Engineer Joseph Child, who joined MCI as its 19th employee in 1969, also lauds Jack Goeken's determination once he has an idea. "Jack is a visionary who had the foresight and cleverness to put things together," Child says. "But more important, he would never give up on his idea."

Goeken's impact on the high-tech industry is much greater than many people realize, Childs says, pointing to the MCI founder's influence in the data communications realm. "MCI, in the early 1970s, started telling people they were going to carry data, and the number of modem manufacturers rose from three to more than 80," Child says. "If you look at the impact of data communications on the world, it's enormous, and Jack had a lot to do with that. At the time, AT&T would have stopped anything that smelled of data if they could have," he says.

After leaving MCI in 1974, Goeken aimed to cultivate the world's largest computer network,for the floral industry. "Back then, if you went to a florist and ordered flowers, they'd get out these great big books and start calling florists in the town you wanted to send them to," Goeken says. "So I thought this could be done a lot smarter."
The result, unveiled in the late 1970s, was a national network of 10,000-plus terminals, the biggest ever built at the time. "That [seemed like] a nutty idea. But it changed the entire floral business and many other businesses later on," Child says.
"If you think of all the people who have been in high technology, there are probably only a dozen other people who have had the kind of impact that Jack has," Child adds. "But if you trace the massive social changes of our day, more than any other individual, they trace back to Jack."
One of Goeken's innovations was the air-to-ground phone. After observing that most people exiting a plane headed for the pay phones, Goeken thought that phones should be put on planes. But the idea wasn't an easy sell. He had to convince the FCC and the Federal Aviation Administration. Goeken prevailed, a triumph that gave birth to Airfone, an air-to-ground phone company.

Goeken later sold Airfone to GTE, yet the move paved the way for his next project: improving the analog air-to-ground phone technology he created. The result: In-Flight Phone, a digital air-to-ground voice/data service, which he sold to MCI in 1994.

When he founded MCI in 1963, Goeken didn't set out to break up a monopoly. He had a simple plan to increase sales at his two-way radio franchise in his hometown of Joliet, Ill.
At the time, radio frequencies were congested, which made it tough to sell two-way radios, Goeken says. He thought that if he could erect microwave towers between Chicago and St. Louis, he could sell more two-way radios to trucking companies and generate lucrative maintenance contracts. So he applied for an FCC license.
However, petitions to deny the license application of Microwave Communications Inc.,MCI's original name,were filed by AT&T, Illinois Bell, Southwestern Bell, GTE and Western Union. Goeken didn't see why phone companies would have a problem with his little two-way radio business, so he figured a quick trip to Washington would resolve the issue.

	ACHIEVEMENTS
	Goeken's daughter, Sandra, says he loves the challenge of finding a market need and filling it with a product or service. %A0%A0 Started MCI, a two-way radio company, in 1963. %A0%A0 Built a national computer network for floral industry in the late 1970s,at the time, the largest such network. %A0%A0Invented air-to-ground voice and data communication technology, spawning Airfone and In-Flight Phone. %A0%A0Led epic battle that eventually compelled the federal government to break up AT&T, unleashing a telecommunications boom.

"The only intent we had was to have more two-way radio sales," Goeken says. "If only [the phone companies] hadn't fought me, I probably would have gone back to Joliet and been happy with MCI as a microwave link between Chicago and St. Louis."


MCI's five owners knew fighting the phone companies would be costly, so they ponied up $600 apiece to cover legal expenses. "That's how dumb we were," Goeken says. "We thought we could fight AT&T with $3,000." As the legal expenses grew, MCI's partners dropped out one by one,but Goeken persevered.
After years of fighting, Goeken's radio business eventually grew into a national network as his chief rival AT&T was being divided by the federal government.

"All the original guys dropped out because they didn't have the money," Goeken says. "I was the only one who kept believing in it. I believed that this is America, so if I wanted to go into the telephone business, I had as much right to go into the telephone business as a guy [who wanted] to be an auto mechanic. I believed that AT&T didn't have the right to keep me out of the business. All we were asking for was the right to fail."
About the same time, MCI's sole lawyer, Michael Bader, told Goeken he couldn't spend any more time on the case without getting paid. "But he felt sorry for me," Goeken adds. "So he let me use his law library. I don't know if he knew it or not, but I used to sleep there because I couldn't afford a hotel room. . . . But in his law library, I'd do all the research and write it up, and he'd clean it up and do the filing."

But Bader didn't clean up the filings entirely, Goeken adds. "I tried to write things so AT&T would stay confused. [For example], if I said I was going to use a white cup, I knew AT&T would say it can only be done with a black cup. So I'd write the arguments so that I could come back and say, 'We are using a black cup,' " he says.
"In the initial decision when we were granted a license, the judge said, 'AT&T complained about Mr. Goeken's use of the King James version of the English language. Admittedly, he butchered the heck out of it. But he knew what he wanted to say, and there is no law against using bad English.' So if we would have had the money for a team of lawyers, I don't think MCI would have got the license."
And it's possible the telecom industry might never have boomed the way it did.

-Cited-
http://www.crn.com/news/channel-programs/18834873/jack-goeken-telecom-entrepreneur.htm;jsessionid=1gsVEvSwZULN2QiC5aBbjg**.ecappj02

Telecommunications- the world's biggest network economy

The telecommunications industry is a complex network of machines. The Global Telecommunications network is an incredibly massive one; millions of mobile phones, countless landline connections and many other internet devices are serviced by telecommunication companies which are also serviced by and connected with many other telecommunication companies across the globe.

So how do telecommunications companies make profits out of this complex networks?

Although many technological advances such as mobile phones, internet and text messaging have changed the dynamics of profits in this industry, the biggest revenue generator in the telecommunications world is the old telephone at home.

However, the mobile phone and internet service market is expanding at a much quicker pace than that of stagnated landlines market.

Another great market for telecommunications companies is corporate service. Corporations and businesses require special needs for their communication purposes such as: safer and quicker networks. Because corporate customers tend to care more about the quality of the service than the price, telecommunications companies can establish premium services for the sole goal of serving corporate needs.

It seems that although for the time being landlines create the most chunk of profit for telecommunications companies, that advances in technology and the increasing use of mobile devices will shift the economy of telecommunications into a more competitive and wireless market.

The Economics Behind Your Telephone

The economics behind the telecommunications industry is much more complex than one may imagine. It is easy to think that telecommunications industry operates by providing services, such as telephone calling, cell phone calling, and internet service, in exchange for payment from whom the service is provided. However, there is more than meets the eye. One of the most prominent aspects of economics is capital expenditure. More on this will follow. Advertising is also an important part of the economics in the industry.

Despite all the new services that the telecommunications industry offers, telephone calling is still the largest money maker in telecom. However, services that involve images and text, such as the internet, are expanding, and thus their importance in factoring into total revenue is growing. The telecommunications markets that most people are familiar with are small business and residential markets. However, these markets are the hardest markets to compete in because of the large number of companies in those markets. The key to success in these markets are brand name recognition (this is where advertising comes in), and productive means to bills customers. However, the preferred market is corporate customers. Corporations are more concerned about quality and high priced services, such as videoconferencing, than price. A lesser known market for telecom companies is to sell network connectivity, where one company pays another to use their plant, to others in their field.

Cost is a significant factor in telecom because of both technology updates and plant expansion. Technology updates and plant expansion both require the installation of new equipment, such as switches, which can be very expensive. Similarly, weather damages to above ground equipment, such as telephone lines, require the replacement of the damaged equipment. Also, telecom companies have to pay to send data and calls over another telecom company’s network.

Revenue growth is driven by the both the number of plans sold and the value of the plans sold. Telecommunications companies increase the number of plans sold in part by expanding their service coverage. They expand both the number of plans sold and the price of plans sold by expanding the services they provide. Data and image sending services bring a better price than only calling service. Finally, the price the customer pays for his or her plan will determine the number of plans sold and, in part, the value of the plans sold.

The supply of companies offering telecommunications services is increasing. As such the increased supply means a lower demand. This is because one telecom service, such as cell phone calling, is not much different from the next. As more providers enter the market, a main way to gain customers is by lowering one’s own price to be more competitive than other companies. Technology also affects the number of customers a company serves. Companies with cutting edge services in their field attract more customers than those who don’t. Those companies with these services also get paid more for those services than for standard services. However, as the supply of those services increases, the price of those services goes down.

Info from:

http://i.investopedia.com/inv/pdf/tutorials/industryhandbook.pdf