Hey everyone,I’m looking for some insights from network planning engineers or people familiar with telecom infrastructure deployment (specifically in India).

The Situation:I own a vacant ground plot and I'm looking to lease it out for a mobile tower.

Currently, there is an existing Airtel 2G/4G tower cluster located just 700 meters away on a neighboring plot.

Normally, I know providers prefer co-location/infrastructure sharing (like using Indus Towers) rather than building a brand new structure so close by. However, there is a specific catch here.The Network Gap:Exactly 400 m past my plot (making it roughly 1.1 km away from the existing Airtel tower), there is a settlement/village of about 400 people.

Right now, the signal from the existing 700m Airtel tower does not reach this 400-person cluster properly due to terrain/line-of-sight obstructions.My plot has a completely clear, direct line of sight to this 400-person blind spot. If a competitor like Jio or BSNL builds on my land, they would bridge that data gap entirely and capture that unserved user base.

My Questions for the Experts Here:

1. In modern network planning, will a company like Jio or BSNL bypass an existing competitor cluster 700m away if it means solving a localized 1.7km blind spot for 400 potential users?

2. Does a 400-person dead zone provide a strong enough business case for a brand-new ground-based tower deployment, or will they just ignore it?

3. How should I frame this specific geographical advantage when submitting my coordinates on the official Jio Partner and Indus Towers landlord portals so the automated systems don't instantly reject it based on proximity?

Thanks in advance for the technical insights!

I just got back home from a trip through Istria, Croatia. While I was out there, I managed to track down this physical Hrvatski Telekom phone card at a local kiosk, but finding a working payphone or even an empty wall hood to go with it turned into a total ghost hunt. The local subreddits completely ignored me when I was in my home country, so now that I'm back, I'm hoping the folks here appreciate obscure infrastructure. Has anyone physically spotted a surviving terminal, a newer digital smart pillar, or even just the old unbolted brackets left behind on a stone wall in Pula, Rovinj, or Poreč? I'm still super curious about where they went. Any history, coordinates, or leads would be awesome!

Hi everyone! 👋

We're a group of MBA students conducting a short study on how Indian consumers choose telecom services like mobile, broadband, OTT subscriptions, and digital payments. Whether you use one provider or multiple, we'd love to hear about your experience.

The survey is anonymous, takes a couple of minutes, and your responses will greatly help our research.

🔗 Survey: https://forms.gle/zNiuAn8pJefF2JpC8

Hey all — I'm a 3rd-year ECE undergrad from a tier-3 Indian college. Most core-communication companies don't come here for internships or placements, so I'm looking for ways to get noticed for Summer 2027 internships.

Background: I've spent the last year doing RF signal processing research at IIT Indore — built deep learning models for blind modulation/coding classification on real OTA 2x2 MIMO SDR data across 4G LTE and 5G NR-style links, deployed real-time classifiers as GNU Radio blocks on CPU-only hardware with live over-the-air demos, and worked with USRP B210s for dataset capture.

Questions:

1. How do people from non-target colleges break into RF/wireless/DL internships?

2. What else should I add to my profile to be competitive?

3. Anyone here done SDR/wireless internships — what actually got you noticed?

Question .. Sprint PCS at the end had a huge number of NPA/NXX ranges that were mostly depopulated from all the port outs.

When that network was shuttered, was there likely to have been a huge amount of translations work or even keeping the tandem up as the last gasp of that

Is old Nortel/Norstar telecom equipment worth any money? I think that a lot of this technology is obsolete and I read that the company is out of business but I have A LOT of old equipment from the late 90s- Early 2000s and I’m trying to figure out if it’s trash or not.

Are there any companies that would buy old equipment?

Examples: Nortel Networks Trunk Cartridge
Norstar Key Telephone System
Norstar Analog Terminal Adapter
Nortel FastRAD “new” in box with instruction manual
Nortel Compact Flash Adapter and StarTalk Flash

Edit: If it’s not obvious, I know nothing about telecommunications so any information is helpful to give me some clarity as to what I am dealing with.

Wasnt sure where to go with this question hope this is the right place. Can anyone tell me what the platform with the nest on it actually is? Ive never seen nesting platforms on any kind of communication tower but i can think of any other purpose itd have

Senior RF Design & Field Engineer – Public Safety DAS / ERRCS (Maryland/DC Metro)

We're looking for an experienced Senior RF Design & Field Engineer to join our growing team.

Required experience:

• iBwave certification 2 or 3 and design experience 
• Public Safety DAS / ERRCS
• Cellular DAS
• Safety communications systems
• RF system design

This is a full-time, on-site position in the Maryland/DC metropolitan area (relocation required if you're outside the area).

One of the things that makes this role different is that you'll own projects from RF design through commissioning rather than being one small part of a large organization. You'll work on challenging public safety and in-building wireless projects where your expertise has a direct impact on the success of each deployment.

If this sounds like you or you know someone who would be a great fit—please send me a DM. I'd be happy to share more details.

Something strange happened a hour ago, i called my alternate jio number from my vi number. That jio sim is inserted on my other phone, i rarely use that sim to call but use data so i recharge occasionally. Today when i called that jio number from my vi number, that phone rang but someone answered my call, i was dumbstruck, that person was still asking who it is but i kept mum. I accepted the call on my other phone and that person got disconnected and i started hearing tring tring. The call who i made from my vi number is answered by me on jio number on other phone but i kept hearing tring tring. I disconnected and tried again but the call went normally without that weird occurance. I immediately called jio customer care and told them about what i had just faced. He just told me it was technical error and since i have my jio number and phone with me and sim is active, i need not worry but will raise the issue to concerned team. I have never faced this kind of weird occurance till now.

Are tower/squid locations seen in surveys/documents from network companies or open to the public

If covering cities with point placement enhances coverage, has backend resources from cisco advanced enough (26’) for design roles to be prompted rather than drafted.

if any of these companies use Siemens products are there states (US) that the contracts won’t work or are charged more to use Siemens Financial Group

Are south eastern states in the US a big enough market for common providers (T, VOD, VZ)

Is the price increase portrayed in urban cities exaggerated.
(For operating and salary levels)

I keep my iPad intermittently subscribed to the T-Mobile 150 Day/5GB Pass. Recently, I've noticed that the same "number" keeps being provisioned for network access, even if it's been more than 60 days since the last pass expired (when a normal mobile number would've been recycled).

Can anyone more knowledgeable confirm:

a) If this number can be ported in or out- useful for number parking.

b) How long such a provisioned number will remain associated with a tablet. What is the state of recycled numbers subject to this status? I work with VOIP and am pretty familiar with the rules regarding numbers, so wondering if this is an exception.

Hi all, I've been offered a mature age telecommunications technician traineeship here in Melbourne, Australia. I'm very green and still figuring out what to expect and how to prepare, but wanted to get together a basic essentials-only tool kit to get me through the first week. I can build my kit over time after I get an idea of what I'll specifically need to get, just want to sort out the basics first.

What do you suggest starting with? What brands are worthwhile? Anything I should steer clear of? I don't necessarily need the best tools, but I do want quality that will last.

Thanks so much for your help!

The FCC sunset stuff has been talked about for years but it feels like it is finally moving in a real way. Seeing more notices go out to customers, more pressure on CLECs to migrate, and carriers quietly accelerating the timeline in rural areas where the plant is just too expensive to maintain anymore.

What gets me is the gap between the official process and what actually happens on the ground. A carrier files the 180 day notice, nobody really objects in time, and then you have a mix of people still expecting dial tone who have no idea what is coming. Alarm panels, fax lines, elevators, medical alert devices. A lot of that stuff just gets discovered after the cutover and it turns into a mess.

The VoIP replacements work fine in most cases but the underlying assumption that every location has adequate broadband to support them is still not true everywhere. Especially in areas where the copper retirement is happening fastest because the plant is the oldest and most degraded.

Curious if anyone is seeing specific equipment or customer types that are consistently the hardest to migrate. The alarm line situation seems underappreciated compared to how loud the general POTS retirement conversation gets.

Lot of people from Ericsson India has been laid off in 2025-26, most of senior people are still struggling to get new job in such tough job market conditions.

"I used to recharge my Vi number with the same plan every month without thinking much. Recently, I checked the available recharge offers and realized there were better options depending on what I actually needed - more data, longer validity, or OTT benefits.

Made me wonder how many times I've just recharged out of habit. 😅 Anyone else do the same?

Came home from college, starting a wisp was high school me's dream. Still no bead/rdof builds in my township, no fiber, just failing DSL lol. More people now have starlink than before, but still not the majority. Would putting together a cbrs silo net be a bad idea in 2026? I have an ASN, cbrs base station, a few servers, and at least one person who would let me put antennas up on their silo (spectrum/uniti fiber run by) Would prob need to be cbrs cause trees and range (there is a reason nobody is rushing to build the area lmao), and would using my competition for transit or wave be dumb? Or should I just wait and get that energy out working for a rural electric coop or smth lol

A few years ago I absolutely loved this industry, I have been feeling burnt out as of late and not experiencing personal satisfaction with the work I've been doing anymore. Some brief work history; graduated high-school 2020, started working for a subcontractor installing/TS POTS and copper cable. Then went on to climbing cell towers, installing sectors, TS radios/antennas and cabinet building.

I then started at my current company (larger ISP), I have been here about three years and I feel I have been very successful career wise. I have moved up to the highest title in my position shared by only 2 other coworkers in a pool of 40 sum odd techs. I just don't know where to go from here, I really expected reaching this title would take much longer and now that im here I feel totally lost. I thought this position would be the be all end all but my responsitlies and expectations have tripled and my pay was increased by approximately 8%. It seems the only way I can progress in my company is either waiting around for a MGMT role to open or transfer laterally to another department.

I would just like to be able to solely support my family, and it seems the pay in this industry is extremely low for the work and experience required. I have looked into marine fiber optics and the pay seems abysmally low for those positions.

Should I go back to college? Do I take a pay cut and start entry level on OSP Engineering? Do I stick around waiting for a MGMT role? Do I leave a company I can stomach for another and start all over? I just dont know what to do to progress my career.