PDF of this tutorialThere is a significant trend toward outsourcing in the telecommunications industry. Suppliers in North America currently deal with numerous contractors and are finding that they are losing control of the costs and the quality of work. More and more, carriers are realizing the benefits of outsourcing to third parties so as to offer services such as customer-care and billing systems, network planning, and construction and operations support systems (OSSs).
Currently, 60 percent of service providers are outsourcing to third parties, but that number is projected to increase to 74 percent within two years. At present, 28 percent of service providers report that they outsource network planning and construction (i.e., deployment of the network) to third parties, and this number is projected to increase to 38 percent in the near future.
Data networks are altering the makeup of today’s networks; as a result, suppliers in North America are expanding their networks to provide greater broadband to their customers. This is usually accomplished in one of two ways: through new construction or by retrofitting existing networks. Other trends include placing fiber and remotes closer to the home and upgrading switches. As a result, there are not enough installers for these areas, and existing installers cannot handle the peak load.
As the workload increases, the demand for quality installation and construction services increases as well. Using a large company with a permanent/long-term employee base as a single source supplier will ensure that the skilled manpower will be available to complete the project to the highest quality standards while controlling costs and schedule.
