Standing on the ocean of telecom with submarines of E-1s, optical fiber, and VoIP, one wonders where the industry is moving. Either wire or less, there are humans required to run systems. In the deep of Pakistan's telecom industry, cold war is going on between LDI and GSM tycoons of state & newcomers. As the giant stands bravely, some say the wire is no more required. The wire is still unbreakable and stitched hard. In this trend of new movers and shakers, it appears that the industry players of telecom r-evolution are at eye-ball to eye-ball level. The GSM and LDI companies are coming up like telecom of the north has traveled all the way from Europe and has landed on the four seasons land and Arabians have also set their feet. At this sensitive time of competition, even single news like launching of a new name can panic the whole industry. Either it's about configurations, testing, commissioning systems, marketing or accounting analysts, the industry seems sick for giving the best potential to GSM and LDI companies. As the professional workforce is needed to give a fresh start to every company, need of mergers is coming up with its financial as well as HR feasibility. Someone said it right - Survival of the Fittest.

It's a cold war between different telecom carriers which is being fought at various congestion and contention levels. The HR scene in telecom sector is showing huge congestion in search of getting the best operational human resource. Interestingly, career magnetism from the newcomers has dropped many signals from their parent boosters as their ancestors are looking for people who can fill the vacuum of the ones slipped out of their hands. The revenue factor is shifting from one industry to the other in global economy but HR issue remains the focal point of every business conference.

Huge revenues are predicted ahead in the telecom industry as the revolution has started in almost every developing country now. Mexico's telecommunication tycoon Carlos Slim who is the biggest share holder in US MCI, earned record 10 billion US$ just in 1 year and his fortune has increased from 13.9bn$ to 23.9bn$. This is the highest annual increment in anyone's personal earnings from an industry. This shows the revenue potential of telecom sector. Now what about human resource? In the telecom business, future lies in the technical setup. The technicians, troubleshooters, testers, supervisors and engineers are the most essential entities of any telecom carrier as they all are the technical doctors of a company. Consultants, business advisors, marketing people, managers and so many other kind of human input is required to do profitable business in the long run.

Currently in Pakistan, companies are looking inoffensively at the semi-skilled graduate force of the country, but not finding the worth ones they need. From HR managers to CEOs, the bell rings for everyone 24 hours a day as the team leaders are there but without complete team. Conducting interviews in high class hotels and offering lucrative packages is easy but finding the worth and experienced ones has become matter of the luck. Either it is WLL, optical fiber, digital switching, microwave or GSM, it is hard to find even the satisfactory technicians yet. Engineers will be many in future but the issue is of experienced and competent ones when it comes to sending and receiving voice data. It seems that local telecom industry has struck a catastrophe in finding the HR they deserve and desire. The HR managers of the industry have zipped their mouths as they're facing their tough times too and finding no one to blame as the industry expanded rapidly. When it comes to get recruited in new companies, links are needed and references are required but from commercial aspect 'time is money' and it's a chase where people are anxious about the winner. Though the telecom industry is growing and the minister for IT revealed that Telecom and IT industry is brining Pakistan billions of dollars. Quality and practical oriented education in telecom and its associated fields is required to assure no such HR crisis will be cited in future. Students, professionals and HR managers should be hopeful for a bright future ahead as the awareness about this sector in society is on the rise. Thumbs up for future telecom investment and new companies in Pakistan! We hope both the regulator and regulation stay in line for better, prosperous and calm telecom ocean of Pakistan. Good luck to all the companies and especially for the ones who lost many signals from their boosters in this HR fight. We hope to see an infrastructure rich, skillfully sound and full of benefits telecom industry for everyone in Pakistan..

The writer is student of M.Sc Telecom in Federal Urdu University of Arts, Sciences &Technology (FUUAST), Islamabad.
E-mail: imran@itinsight.info