Back5G rollouts bring telecom engineers back in vogue in India
Experts said that a telecom engineer who has skills in computer science has even more lucrative prospects today
PremiumNEW DELHI : Demand for telecom engineers has rebounded with the rollout of 5G services in the country. Such engineers responsible for designing, overseeing and installing equipment and facilities for telecom networks are being increasingly hired by firms launching 5G applications, and private telecom companies, said industry experts.
Telecom operators Reliance Jio and Bharti Airtel introduced 5G services in select cities from 1 October.
In recent times, most telcos hired Android developers and artificial intelligence experts as hiring for engineers took a back seat. However, demand for radio access network (RAN) engineers and radio frequency (RF) engineers is now rising steadily. For instance, a RAN engineer can earn up to ₹50 lakh a year, they said.
Unlike the trends of the last two years, most telecom engineers are skilled in all forms of electrical engineering, unlike Android developers who specialize in software development and applications.
RF Engineers specialize in working with gadgets used in sending and receiving radio signals. Experts said that a telecom engineer, who also has computer science skills, can land even more lucrative jobs.
“With additional certification, the salary scale of a 5G engineer with expertise in niche areas can grow by double digits and any mid-to-senior professional can expect a 35% to 45% hike," said Munira Loliwala, business head, diversified engineering at staffing firm TeamLease Digital.
According to Teamlease, in the last two years, the average salary of a RAN engineer with 3-5 years of experience has risen to ₹3-7 lakh a year, from an average of ₹2.5-5 lakh prior to Covid. Likewise, senior engineers can now earn ₹6-9 lakh, up from ₹4.5-7 lakh. Testing engineers, who monitor networks, are getting an average of ₹4-5 lakh and up to ₹9 lakh for senior roles. Professionals can expect a 35-45% hike in the coming months for new roles, it added.
Network engineers for mid and senior levels saw 98% jump in hiring within two years, said Loliwala, adding that over half of all hiring in the telecom sector in 2022 was from sub-sectors such as mobile virtual network operators (MVNOs) and white space spectrum (TV and broadband).
“Fintech and healthtech firms, are also deploying new use cases for 5G, and need such engineers. “Medium-sized businesses in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru and Kolkata accounted for nearly 50% of all hirings in the sector, while Chennai, Hyderabad and Chandigarh are the upcoming destinations for hiring," she added.
Sekhar Garisa, chief executive of jobs platform Monster India, said telecom equipment makers like Dell, Ericsson, Nokia and Intel are increasingly hiring telecom engineers skilled in radio frequency and network security in huge numbers. Monster Employment Index for October showed major demand coming from Bengaluru.
Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst at techARC, said the rollout of 5G will compel telecom engineers to acquire skills in new user interfaces, cybersecurity, as “5G networks will demand a more fine-grained programmability to handle both the volume and variety of services".
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