The recently announced reforms for the telecom sector will have a huge impact on the ecosystem. It will ease the operational burden on the TSP’s creating space for growth into new avenues like 5G, says Mr Arvind Bali, CEO, Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC).
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Pandemic is on a downturn in India; what has been the biggest learning of the telecom sector and especially from a talent perspective?
One thing that has emerged as a clear need of the hour is the up-skilling of workers for tele-enabled services. During the pandemic, the requirement of technicians able to perform tasks remotely had unprecedented demand. I feel this will only move forward from here. Another important lesson was the need to develop local talent. Large scale worker migration took place due to multiple reasons. We can mitigate these effects in the future by analysing the local demand-supply ratio and normalise it across all states.
Arvind Bali, CEO, Telecom Sector Skill Council
TSSC works with multiple stakeholders, including government and industry; what are the latest trends and challenges wrt skilling in the telecom sector?
The biggest challenge right now is the inability to train candidates remotely for govt—schemes like PMKVY, DDU-GKY, NULM, ESDM etc. We need to create an ecosystem where training and assessments can happen seamlessly through online or blended learning.
How has been the uptake of your certification courses and skilling this year, and how do you see the demand from the industry as the economy opens up?
We have diversified into online learning since FY21. We have noticed an increase in demand for online courses due to nationwide lockdown and social distancing. Apart from that, classroom skilling is expected to benefit from the introduction of online facilities for training and assessments.
What kind of courses are picking up in Telecom Industry? What are your plans for new tech like 5G, AI etc?
Job roles targeting manufacturing and maintenance of handsets are picking up rapidly due to the recently launched PLI scheme. Additionally, as 5G spectrum launch is nearing closer, we are also seeing an uptake of roles for Call Centre Executives, In-Store Promoters and Field Sales Executives. On the emergent tech front, we have five new QP’s in the pipeline for 5G, AI/ML, Drone Technology and M2M communications. We are also focusing on R&D for warehousing, procurement, and material management courses.
TSSC recently partnered with Better Place and CSC; how are your partnerships are progressing in Industry, and what more we can expect?
TSSC has created its own job portal called TelcoJobs to provide a platform for companies to connect with candidates for placements. The platform is easy to use and is free for both companies and candidates. BetterPlace has a wide presence across India, and we are partnering with them to reach more candidates and companies. CSC has a PAN India project to train 1 lakh candidates for the BharatNet project. Such strategic tie-ups are necessary to increase our visibility. Through this, we are also promoting our flagship schemes like PMKVY, NULM, DDU-GKY and ESDM, among others. We are in talks to sign many more MoU’s to add value to our flagship projects like CSR, TelcoJobs, TSSC Learning, Centre of Excellence, and our International Business verticals.
Government has a renewed focus on Telecom Industry and announces series of measures, how do you see them for the industry, human resources, and economy in long term perspective?
The recently announced reforms for the telecom sector will have a huge impact on the ecosystem. Firstly, it will ease the operational burden on the TSP’s creating space for growth into new avenues like 5G. Additionally, a 100% FDI allowance will help scale up operations across the country. Telecom has consistently been one of the highest receptors of FDI in India. With 5G and equipment manufacturing coming into focus, there will be an increase in demand for jobs in the ICT domain. Projects like IoT and Smart Cities will undoubtedly make India the hub for digital specialisation in skilled manpower and a hub for smart devices.
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