Monday, January 22, 2007
Career Guide
DiGi Telecommunications Engineer Steven Heah whose job it is to ensure that almost every nook and corner of Malaysia, be it an oil palm estate or a newlyopened highway, is connected.
Heah did not initially think of majoring in Communications when completing his engineering degree in the United Kingdom.
"I became interested during my undergrad studies as I wanted something different and more interesting than the mainstream Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
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Heah started his career as a data communications engineer before switching to radio network planning.
He finds working in DiGi to be fulfilling and challenging, especially his brief of expanding network coverage and optimising network efficiency.
Heah is now head of the Radio Access Strategy in the Technology Division at DiGi.
"Mobile call rates are constantly being lowered to give better value to end-users, and it is becoming more challenging to design a network that runs more efficiently," he says.
Last year, DiGi spent as much as RM850mil to expand its network coverage from 80% to 90% of the country.
Network engineers like Heah occasionally travel to meet other affiliate network operators on Euorpe and Asia under DiGi's parent company Telenor.
"I find that sharing and exchanging ideas with other engineers is an excellent way of learning and challenging each other's thinking.
Mobile telecommunications is a relatively small field but one that is evolving rapidly, what with 3G (third generation spectrum), WiMAX and broadband technology, just to name a few.
Malaysia's information, communications and telecommunications industry is currently worth about RM25bil, and the government wants to increase it to at least RM80bil by 2010.
My job involves…
… leading teams to plan and design the expansion of DiGi's radio network.
We have teams that are responsible for certain regions of the country who will survey an area's suitability for coverage expansion.
Going to areas with no coverage can be quite satisfying as you have bragging rights, having been to some of the most remote corners of Malaysia.
It involves a lot of travelling especially to places off the beaten track.
This provides us with a firsthand view of the demography of the region.
Back in the office, the engineers will be producing coverage prediction plots, analysing drive-tests, network statistics and making plans for improvements.
We also have to work closely with our marketing team to ensure the network is able to support new service launches.
Telecommunications engineers in other sections such as core switching, transmission network and service operations would have a different set of tasks.
My morning starts off with…
…coffee, of course, while checking emails and glancing through some news headlines. I then look at statistics and reports of network performance during the previous day.
Next, I would probably head off to a meeting or touch base with my team on some projects.
I rarely do fieldwork now.
Most of my time is spent making sure my team is able to get their job done.
Discussions with senior management and meetings with network equipment vendors, other industry players and the regulatory authority are all part of the job.
To qualify, you need… …preferably a degree in Engineering, either Electrical and Electronics or Communications. I graduated with a Bachelor of Engineering (Communications) from the University of Hertfordshire in England.
The best person for the job is… … someone with an engineering mindset to begin with, and a bit of curiosity in tech stuff.
This is quite a broad field and can accommodate people with different types of personalities – those who like travelling and meeting people and those who prefer working in the office.
Prospects for the future… … are amazing and growing by the day.
Graduates should really consider this field as the scope is very broad.
There are more options now compared to 10 years ago. I love my job because… … I get to see the results of all the hard work when someone gets better coverage or network quality.
What I dislike most… …is red tape.
It's a conscious effort to identify areas where we can simplify the way we work.
Will I be a millionaire by 30? Not when I last checked! Generally, the industry standard starting pay for fresh graduates is RM2,200. -Mobile88
