Interviews

Mr Wajih-Ur-Rehman has got 11 years of telecom career

in his profile. This Core Network Expert has worked with
leading firms like Mobilink, China Mobile and NSN.
Currently working in the biggest telecom market in the
world i.e. China. Today he shares some of his life
experiences and advices with other ZUMBEELians.

• Your career

I started my career as a design engineer in Electronic Development Cell in

late 1998, at Pakistan Steel. However, I realized very soon that it was not the
place for me. Lack of facilities and environment conducive enough to
produce something to prove my skills were just not there.

Later I got the opportunity in Mobilink to work as D900 switch maintenance

engineer and that is how my telecom career started. Mobilink was not just

EL
a company but a university which trained so many people and provided
them opportunity to learn about the technology not existing in many other
countries. After one year of experience I joined Siemens AG as a consultant
and then worked on various international projects.
BE
In 2007, I joined Mobilink again as Level-2 Support manager and later NOC
Manager which was started in Islamabad, however, this stay also remained
brief because of personal reason.

Currently, I am working with Nokia Siemens Network, Shanghai China as a

M

senior Engineer in Global care centre.

• Your interest and activities

ZU

Although, the work schedule does not allow anything else to do but if I have
spare time I like to read to keep myself up-to-dated with new technologies.

• Why did u choose telecom as a career?

I did not choose it. It was just an accident. My class mate and colleague
forwarded my resume and then I was interviewed and selected.

In fact, I do not think many of the engineers in Pakistan can pursue their
career in the field of their choice or interest. Lack of research and
development in Pakistan has limited many engineering discipline in to
service level only. Most of the engineers, therefore, choose to accept
whatever the job they find and that is how they begin in their respective
field. In most cases, our first job determines what we want to be.

1 www.zumbeel.net
Interviews
Although, I did become a telecom engineer by accident, however, I
consider myself lucky that I had the opportunity to work in one of most
dynamic engineering field. It offers challenges, growth and opportunities to
prove our skills and caliber.

• Your early days in telecoms.

Early days in Mobilink were tough but memorable. We had small teams and
more routine work but it provided learning opportunities as well. Although, in
our times there were no concept of formal training and one had to work
real hard to improve his skills but the good thing was a close interaction
between switching, operation and optimization which provided possibilities
to learn from each other. Weekly presentations were there where people
use to share their knowledge and skills.

When I joined Siemens, it all changed. Working with a vendor was

completely different. I was offered professional training and provided

EL
means to improve my skills.

In my opinion, people who started their job on operator side normally have
much more difficult because the scope of work is entirely different.
Operators are primarily focus on maintenance activity. It was really tough
BE
for me to start doing thing which I had never done before but somehow I
survived.

I do now consider all those difficulties and challenges as a blessing. Today,

when I looked at the operator environment I think the job has just become
M

more or less a routine and this is something which is disappointing.

• What were the feelings of working with the first digital operator of Pakistan?
ZU

When I started working with Mobilink, there were only two MSCs and
Mobilink was the only GSM network in Pakistan. I always took pride and
many other colleagues that we were among the few people in Pakistan
who had the opportunity to work on such a new technology.

Apart from job, the most important thing I felt was the warmness and
closeness between people. It was not only team of engineers but a family
who worked and supported for one cause. It is really hard to find such
working environment in Pakistan

I think anyone who worked in Mobilink during that time will always cherish
what he had and we owe to Mobilink.

2 www.zumbeel.net
Interviews

• Your long tour to China. Please comment.

I first came to China in 2001 and participated in software and hardware

upgrades.

My second visit was the longest one and I stayed 3 years where I worked
and support in Regional Network Care Centre (RNCC).

In 2008, I joined GCC again and now supporting APAC and Greater China
region.

All these trips proved to be fruitful and provided me immense opportunities

to learn and experience a great culture.

Telecom sector in China is very dynamic, new services and complex

EL
network architecture which is difficult to find anywhere. This is a project
which is ideal to work and support.

• 4 best things about China

BE
1. Since it is a completive market, new services are offered all the time. This
provides telecom engineers to learn more.

2. Chinese operators have their own specification. They don’t rely solely on
3GPP or GSM Specs. Although, it may not sound very interesting but it
M

you have experience how solutions are mould to meet customer

requirement then it always add to our knowledge and open up our
mind to new possibilities.
ZU

3. People are extremely friendly

4. Rapid development and positive attitude.

• 3 worst things about China

Of course, Food, food and food

• China is the fast growing economy in the world, what we can learn from
them?

What I learn during my stay in China is very simple. You don’t need to work
really hard to make difference. But, you just need to do your job whatever it
is, with honesty and dedication.

3 www.zumbeel.net
Interviews

People leave office exactly at 5 P.M. Nobody overtimes, unless it is

necessary and unavoidable. This is something which is foreign to us.

The secret to their success is not extraordinary hard work but the honesty
and dedication in whatever they do.

• Telecom in China and its future.

With the current world economy situation, when all the big vendors are
suffering because of lack of business and funds available to continue R&D
for the new technology ,Chinese telecom provides a hope. China has
recently launched 3G services; there are huge plans to swap the existing
and old GSM infra structure with new equipment.
Although, it may sound something Chinese specific but all this new business
is really critical for vendors worldwide for their survival.

EL
Chinese operators, as I consider, will play an important role in the
development of new services and provide much needed business to
vendors so that they can continue with R&D in a time we are in recession.

• What is the current scenario of telecom in the world?

BE
At this moment, situation does not look very nice. There is a lack of interest
to invest more in the infrastructure. Further, current economical crisis has its
own impact. Economies are falling recession and therefore it is directly
impacting telecom sector.
M

Another major problem is slow growth of network. Growth in new subscribers

is declining fast and so does the revenue. Operators and vendors therefore
are now looking for new solution to reduce cost of development as well as
ZU

operational cost of networks.

All these things combine together indicates difficult days ahead.

• How do you see telecom in Pakistan?

The situation in Pakistan is no different. Reduce rates for mobile services,

although good for consumer, is affecting operators. Further, mobile
subscribers in Pakistan are voice oriented and therefore, services like data
as well as value added service are not much in use.

This in turn is affecting the growth of industry which many might have
realized already. Less job will be created in this sector and it is unlikely new
project will start soon.

4 www.zumbeel.net
Interviews
One can see that operator are reluctant for 3G licenses as it will require
huge investment which they might not be capable of at this point of time.

• Future of soft switches & IMS

Soft switches and IMS are not only to support new services but they will
provide operators means to reduce transmission cost significantly, provided
they are used with right backbone e.g. IP backbone.

It is no doubt that the future of these new technologies is bright and they
will play an important role in the growth of telecom sector.

• What advice will you give to our Fresh Grads in terms of their career?

I don’t want to sound pessimist, however, ignoring the reality of job market
won’t help either.

EL
Telecom job market is saturated and it can not accommodate all of the
engineers who are graduating from the universities there days. Additionally
operators or other telecom related industries are looking for experience
professional as they are productive from day 1.
BE
Therefore, I will advice fresh graduates to look for opportunities in the other
field as well. Improve their knowledge and skills by attending more vocation
courses.

I do think that that there are other engineering disciplines like software
M

engineering, Data communications. By engaging themselves in these fields

they can improve their chances to get the job.
ZU

• What advice will you give to our telecom professionals?

Telecom field is very dynamic and it demands constant improvement in the

skills and capabilities.

I think telecom professionals in Pakistan are already doing good job.

However, it is necessary for them to go one step further. Regular
participations is different seminars, Lectures and attending courses related
to their field and new technologies is of very importance.

I will also advice them to come forward and arrange courses and technical
workshop for fresh engineers through platform like ZUMBEEL to prepare a
better workforce in Pakistan.

5 www.zumbeel.net
Interviews

• Your future plans

I do not believe on long term planning. Things changes with time and the
situation. Therefore, I think people should be more pragmatic and flexible
enough to mould themselves as per requirement.

At the moment, there are no plans to change my field, however, I do think

that at some point of time, I might need to say goodbye to my engineering
background and would seek a position in managerial ranks and will focus
entirely different thing.

• Your views about ZUMBEEL

ZUMBEEL has served all of us for long time. This simple mailing group has
been transformed into a platform where people are coming and

EL
participating more actively.

Examples like ZUMBEEL in developing countries are very rare. We must not
take it for granted but rather engage ourselves in making such platform
more productive by active participation like Seminars, workshops and short
BE
course etc.
M
ZU

6 www.zumbeel.net