Risk Management In Telecom Projects

Scope of the project

For the successful implementation of a project it is essential that the people involved in its implementation be sensitive to the risks involved in the project and formulate the most suitable structure for the management of such risks. There are certain variables and uncertainties in common to most of the infrastructure projects. Many risk mitigation techniques are applied to infrastructure projects. Discuss in details the risk management to construction with special reference to a project that I had undertaken with my company.

Type of Project

My company IMI SOFTWARE LTD is a design consultancy providing tower design solutions to the telecom and power sectors.

The scope of our work includes the following:

1. Tower design
2. Design checking
3. Preparation of Structural Fabrication Drawings
4. Building analysis for installing a roof top tower.
5. Preparation of structural drawings of existing buildings (if building structural drawings are not available)
6. Supporting beam design for installing roof top tower.
7. Foundation design of ground based tower
8. Estimations during tender stages
9. Dynamic analysis and Non Linear Analysis.
10. Design Checking and strengthening of towers
11. Preparation of as built drawings

One of the cellular service providers by the name of TATA TELE SERVICES MAHARASHTRA LTD presented us with a project to design a ground based tower.

It was a 60 metre tower based on a piece of land that the client had acquired from the landowner by entering into a contract with him. The agreement was for a valid consideration and for a definite period of time. After the lapse of the period the client would either have to dismantle the tower or renew the agreement with the landowner for a further period.

The parties involved in the project were the client, the consultant, the contractor and the outsourcing companies who accomplished the work of acquiring the land for the client. The modus operand was thus:

The outsourcing agent would acquire the land shortlisted by the client from the landowner by doing the necessary groundwork and entering into necessary legal agreements for a valid consideration. The client would then summon the consultant and give his requirements of tower height and load of antennae coming on the tower, etc. Based on this the consultant would prepare layout drawings after conducting a preliminary survey whether the piece of land would be enough for a tower of that height. He would then furnish the layout drawings and then conduct the soil investigation of the proposed site to ascertain the safe bearing capacity of the soil. Depending upon the recommendation of the client, and the data gathered from the soil investigation and from the client the consultant would then design the tower for the required load coming on the tower along with its foundation system. He would also design the supporting beams for the shelter and the diesel generator.

On receiving the design drawings the client would then pass them on to the contractor earmarked for the project and he would then order the material required for the erection depending upon the bill of materials furnished by the consultant's drawings. The consultant would also give the fabrication drawings based on which the steel sections would be fabricated in situ. Based on the erection drawings of the consultant the contractor would then start erection of the tower and its accessories namely the shelter and diesel generator. Once the erection has been done then commissioning would commence in which the client's engineers would cross check the contractor's work by simulating conditions similar to those that would prevail under normal working of the tower. Once the commissioning is over then the site would be handed over to the client by the contractor. The client would then ask the consultant to prepare as built drawings of the site showing the views of the tower as it is standing. In all these works there are a lot of risks that each of the parties have to bear and find out ways to mitigate. Following are the list of risks that each of the parties have to bear.

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Easy Telecommunications Inventory

Managing telecommunications inventory for more than just a few locations has always been tedious work. Getting an accurate inventory is the first challenge. Traditionally, companies have paid technicians to visit each of their locations to tone, test and tag the different circuits. Not only is this method expensive (which runs counter to our objective of reducing the costs of telecommunications), but is becoming less and less accurate over time.

With the advent of telecommunications competition, and carriers delivering a significant amount of services over T-1 lines, the ability for a technician to tone and test each line to develop an accurate telecommunications inventory is diminishing. Further, this telecommunications inventory process is disruptive. Lines have to be taken out of service and access needs to be coordinated with the building management. Frequently, the site personnel are not technical, so their ability to assist the technician in finding the variety of circuits that may be in use is limited.

Fortunately, there are short-cuts that provide a significant comfort level that the inventory is captured "reasonably accurately". Let's face it, unless you have 50 lines coming into a location (and if you do, you should consider a more efficient service), using carrier records is a reasonable alternative. If your intention is to reduce your telecom expenses by reviewing your telecommunications inventory, what is important is what you are paying for.

You can establish your telecommunications inventory fairly accurately from your billing information, and not spend anything to do it. What you then need is a system the help you keep that inventory up to date and a methodology to review the telecommunications inventory to find cost savings. Finding a web-based tool at little or no cost is the best approach to maintaining a telecommunications inventory over time. With a web-based telecom inventory, you can have individuals at each location manage their own information.

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Telecommunications Funding - Opportunities For Your Small Telecom Business

Traditional small business loans are hard to come by these days for everyone, but telecommunications funding is scarcer. The reason for this is that your traditional lenders are wary of the whole telecom operation. Business is not black and white as in retail and many banks don't understand telecoms and are therefore scared of taking a chance on them. Luckily, there are entities that focus solely on telecommunications funding.

Here are the options offered by these specialty lenders if you are looking for some working capital for your small to medium sized telecom venture:

Factoring- You have account receivables (invoices) sitting in a folder waiting for payment. In the telecom industry, you will wait 45 to 90 days before payment is remitted. Meanwhile, a great deal on some new equipment may come up or maybe you need to revamp your marketing strategies- whatever the opportunity, you need cash now but it is sitting in a folder in the form of an invoice. With specialty lenders, you can sell these invoices at a discounted rate and get the money now instead of 2 to 3 months later.

Asset-based loans- This telecommunications funding solution works if you have enough assets to put up as collateral. You can borrow against equipment, inventory, accounts receivable and even contracts. As collateral, you can use the success of your business to make it even more successful and grow.

Using a specialty lender who is experienced in telecommunications funding also means less hassle for you, the business owner. You do not have to make any personal guarantees, non-recourse agreements and, unlike traditional small business loans where you could lose everything if you default, the only things at risk are the specific assets tied to the agreement.

Discuss your telecommunications funding needs with a specialist to determine what would work best for your business. Whatever you do, don't let the banks get you down when you need money to grow the business. Any of the options above give you the working capital to take advantage of unexpected opportunities. You have to spend money to make money, but you can't spend it if it is tied up in receivables, contracts and equipment. Put your assets to work for you.

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Development Vs Telecommunication

What does Development Mean?
Development means a change, a growth, progress and modernization. Though there can be change without development, but we shall consider it that is stands for good, positive and favorable. Development, traditionally, would mean the desirable economic changes, the economic take off. Economic development involves mobilization of natural resources, capital and technological know-how, and their utilization for the attainment of constantly rising national goals, higher income standards and the change form a traditional to modern society. It is measured by Gross National Product (GNP), total or per capita.

But development is much more than mere economic growth and as the scholars opine-- it should not be viewed only in economic terms but in terms of social, political, cultural and moral values that makes a person's life whole, and enable a person to attain his/her possible potential.

In nutshell, development is both a physical reality and a state of mind in which society has, through some combination of social, economic and industrial process, secured the means for obtaining a better life.

Whatever be the specific components of life, the development in all societies must have at least three objectives:

1. To increase the availability and widen the distribution of basic life-sustaining goods such as food, shelter, health and protection.
2. To raise levels of living including addition to higher incomes, the provisions of more knowhow, better education and greater attention to cultural and humanistic values, all of which will serve not only to enhance material well-being but also to generate greater individual and national esteem.
3. To expand the range of economic and social choices available to individuals and nations by freeing them from servitude and dependence not only in relation to other people and nation states but also to the forces of ignorance and human misery.

Role of communication and telecommunication in development:
As the commutation is a vehicle of sharing or exchange of ideas, information knowledge, attitude or feelings, so in development only after sharing or exchange of those with the people - we can understand their problems in the right prospective and assist them in development to accelerate the modernity. Discerned the utility of communication in development and modernity-- people are looking to make it more expeditious. Consequently, we have had telecommunication as the most effective means to proceed towards our desired goals of development.

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Best Offers of Telecommunications Companies

As they all try to keep up with the ever advancing technologies, most of the global telecommunication companies are vying with each other in order to get the best offers and services for their customers.

This means that at the end of the day the ones to benefit from all his competition is undoubtedly going to be the consumer. We will inevitably get the best and easy to operate accessories and services from these telecom companies. As there are new features being constantly added every day this is great news for the future.

These companies are not just trying to please their big corporate market but they are also trying to do something to help out the individual consumer too. As an individual we can now see offers such as low start up fees or even free start ups. There are also offers for no connection fees too.

Some companies have even waived the minimum monthly fee if the volume has not reached the figure to justify any monthly expenses. The advanced technology and fantastic customer support that are being offered too increases the customer expectations.

But it is not all about the great products that these companies offer to the consumer. There are also various billing options now available to them. Corporate clients can have the post paid billing option while individuals could opt for a pre paid billing option.

Most of these companies provide customized billing that ca b delivered either physically or by using online methods.

So you can receive the online bills or the postal bills as you used to receive, the choice is yours. These bills allow you to see exactly what you are being charged for and let you know whether you have any outstanding credit.

The software that these companies use to generate the bills means that they can process thousands of bills per minute which the smaller telecom companies cannot compete with. It saves them a lot of time and money that they can then pass on to their customers.