Ericsson has been training its own internal staff and customers alike on the New Radio, or NR, or 5G Radio Access Network a long before the first 5G-RAN networks were launched.
Shailesh Mani Upadhyay, Strategic Product Manager in Ericsson Learning Services says, “The 5G/NR RAN Learning Portfolio provides a comprehensive set of training solutions for our customers and Ericsson alike - to understand the new radio (NR) technology and apply that knowledge in operating the network. The portfolio provides a balance between digital courses and Instructor-led sessions – with practice lab sessions, when appropriate. The offering has been developed by consulting operators on their needs and Ericsson experts, and delivered by experienced instructors.”
What is new in NR RAN 2021 portfolio?
Everything, actually. Because 5G is still evolving and will continue to do so for a few more years, new features and functionalities are being introduced all the time, and our training courses should also reflect them. So, we update the courses continuously. Besides, we take inputs from our customers and experts to come up with new topics/courses and fine-tune the training flows. Besides, the focus on remote training deliveries and digital trainings have been important recently, because of the COVID pandemic – and our trainings reflect that.
In 2021, to be more specific, we continue to produce the digital Delta trainings every quarter, which were highly appreciated in 2020. We have also split the Functionality course into a “General Functionality” and an “Advanced Functionality”. Some new areas, like NR in Private Networks, an evolvement of the Ericsson Spectrum Sharing offering and soon Voice over NR will happen. Like I said earlier, all the courses are also updated.
What is aimed for advanced learners?
Assuming ‘advanced learner’ refers to a student who has already attended the training flow in 2020, then the Delta trainings are certainly aimed for him or her. There are new topics included in the Advanced Functionality training, so it is also recommended. Similarly, specific areas like Ericsson Spectrum Sharing and Voice over NR will have new advanced contents.
I should also point out that portfolio is quite advanced. The recommended training flows start with Overview trainings, but then branch out to detailed/advanced topics – depending on what the job profile of the learner is.
How is NR RAN training perceived by customers so far?
Extremely well. I would expect the offering to be popular, as we continuously consult operators on what their expectations are from the offering.
The digital trainings/components have more than 92% satisfaction on criterias - course overall, interactivity, method of learning, usefulness of the course contents.
The instructor-led sessions, similarly, are extremely popular, and are appreciated by customers and Ericsson internal staff alike.
