Headquartered in Nashua, Parallel Wireless offers a wide array of wireless infrastructure services such as HetNet Gateway, Converged Wireless System, Public Safety LTE and many more, that enable operators to scale and grow multivendor and multitechnology (3G, 4G, and Wi-Fi) networks.

The Indian communications industry has made immense contribution to the country’s economy over the last many years. The telecommunications industry contributes eight percent to India’s GDP. More so, the telecom services are at the center of many Governmentled initiatives, including Smart Cities Mission and Digital India. There is also a push from the Government to drive the usage of mobile banking and e-governance. With such initiatives, it is expected that the contribution of the telecom industry to India’s GDP will further increase.

However, the industry can leverage the vast opportunities of the newer technologies only if it addresses the reskilling challenge of its workforce. The Indian telecom sector employs close to three million people directly, and another seven million indirectly, making it one of the largest employment generating industries in the country. The industry attracts the top talent because of growth opportunities, and also the technical workforce gets a chance to work on the exciting technologies.

There have been significant job losses in the industry in the last two years because of many merger and acquisition deals. Smaller telcos have either shutdown their operations or have been forced to merge with bigger telcos, because they were unable to withstand hyper competition in the market. Second, in order to keep with the global trend, the Indian telcos have started exploring automation to enhance the operational excellence and also to bring down the expenditure. This is further likely to lead to more job losses in the industry.

In spite of the fact that the telcos are letting go of the workforce, they are still grappling with a massive demand for skill sets in the upcoming technologies, including

Artificial Intelligence (AI), 5G, Internet of Things(IoT), machine learning and more. The sector is likely to create more than 10 million job opportunities in the next five years, according to the skill development body for the industry.

Upcoming Technologies Demand New Skill Sets
The industry needs a fresh pool of workforce with new skill sets so that it can leverage the full potential of the new technologies. The existing technical skill sets of the workforce are not capable of developing an ecosystem for futuristic technologies. Furthermore, the Governmentled programs will push the demand for new technologies, and that can be met only with trained professionals with knowledge in the latest technologies.

It is crucial for the firms to help their employees in their reskilling journey, so they are able to retain the talent and to ensure that they can provide newer and innovative services to their subscriber base

This demand for new skills can be met by reskilling the existing human resources to take advantage of the opportunities of the upcoming technologies. The Government has come up with various initiatives to address the shortage of skilled workforce. Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Indian Cellular Association (ICA) and Telecom Centers of Excellence (TCOE) have collaborated to setup Telecom Sector Skills Council (TSSC) with the support of National Skills Development Corporation (NSDC) for reskilling in keeping with the evolving industry needs. Besides, the Indian Government has also launched NASSCOM’s Future Skills Platform to train nearly four million IT professionals in eight new areas, including IT, machine learning and Big Data.

These initiatives are sure to help the industry in addressing the skill gap in a limited manner. Even so, the industry needs to do its part and take concrete steps to ensure that the technical workforce evolves with the technology. There are many short term courses available which can help their employees gain new skills in order to keep with the industry demand. The organizations can also organize regular workshops and training sessions to add to the existing skill sets of their workforce.

The upcoming technologies, for instance, 5G, demand a collaborative approach with the other industry verticals. The 5G technology is unlike the previous GSM standards and it is not just about better speed. Forexample, the autonomous driving use case requires that the communications industry work with the auto industry in research, as well as in execution. Similarly, the Internet of Things (IoT) has a wide range of applications, both in the enterprise and consumer front, and demands that the communication industry collaborate extensively with people from other industry verticals. So, the knowledge of how the different sectors function will also come in handy.

Reskilling is a reality of the communications and the Information Technology industry. As newer technologies emerge, the workforce needs to arm itself with the required skill sets. It is crucial for the firms to help their employees in their reskilling journey, so they are able to retain the talent and to ensure that they can provide newer and innovative services to their subscriber base.