The first cellular radio mobile phone call from a handheld device was made 40 years ago today, on 3 April 1973. The caller was Martin Cooper, a senior engineer at Motorola who demonstrated the device in a street while in the presence of reporters. However, it was to be several years later before the first commercial services were launched.

In 1981, the first multinational mobile cellular telephone system was developed within the Scandinavian countries of Denmark Sweden, Finland, and Norway. In 1983, Ameritech started the first American commercial cellular service in Chicago. In 1985, Cellnet and Racal-Vodafone were awarded licences to offer analogue cellular phones in the UK. These first generation mobile systems used analogue techniques and large bulky telephone handsets (commonly referred to as “bricks”).

PTT offers a range of online courses covering cellular radio. For details visit http://www.ptt.co.uk/catalogue.htmla

Internet access has become an indispensable part of our lives and our expectations for high speed communications have grown. Optical fibre plays a key role in most service providers’ plans to satisfy the demand for fast broadband services. Technologies such as ADSL and VDSL that provide high speed broadband over copper wires are also still important especially where the use of fibre is uneconomic.

PTT’s unrivalled catalogue of online telecoms related courses includes several courses dealing with the technologies that allow high speed Internet access:

PTT’s new course FAB: “Optical access networks”  concentrates on the practical aspects of installing and testing fibre to the home (FTTH) connections. It also describes fibre to the building (FTTB) and fibre to the cabinet (FTTC) installations. This interactive course was developed with co-operation from leading FTTx equipment manufacturers ensuring its accuracy and relevance.

The companion course FAA: “Passive optical networks” describes how fibre connections are shared by a number of customers using GPON or EPON techniques.

The just released updated course DLA: “ADSL principles” discusses the limitations of existing copper-wire access networks and describes how ADSL and VDSL techniques maximise data transfer rates over copper pairs.

This course joins its companion course DLB: “DSL systems” which provides an in-depth investigation of the structure, functional components, operation and testing of systems that provide DSL services to customers.

In the UK there is a reawakened interest in Apprenticeships as a way of addressing skills shortages. Apprenticeships include on-the-job learning and assessment as well as elements which deliver the underpinning knowledge that is necessary to work effectively. 

Delivering some aspects of an apprenticeship depend on the availability of skilled trainers with the appropriate industrial, technical knowledge but these are a scarce resource.

PTT has used its years of experience of vocational training in the telecoms sector to design a cost-effective and innovative way of delivering the technical knowledge component of a telecommunications apprenticeship.

More about that solution and more general information at www.ptt.co.uk/apprenticeship.html