A Report on InternshipWork At ETHIO-TELECOM

Abstract
The purpose of this internship report is to write a report about the internship
experience that we have taken for the past four months. The act of preparing the report
will help us to get the most internship experience. In addition to that writing the
internship report allows us to generalize the day-to-day activities of our internship, to
reflect on our experiences, and to create an account of those experiences that displays us
professional skills to the best possible advantage. Our hosting company for the last four
months was Ethio telecom which was concerned with the professional related works.
This report consists five main chapters, and we had clearly explained our internship
experience in those five chapters. The first chapter of the report provides general
information about Ethio Telecom Company. It starts from the brief history of the

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company and continues to overall organization and workflow. The second chapter
describes overall internship experience we gained from our hosting company. It includes
sections of the company we have been worked in and the work pieces been executing.
The third chapter of the report describes the project we did which is trouble shooting of
customer devices. The next chapter of the report describes the challenges that were faced
during the internship and the overall benefits we gained from this internship experience.
It further divides the overall benefits into details and tries to explain them. Finally, the
last chapter of the report describes the conclusion and recommendation we made to the
hosting company and campus.

Abbreviations and Acronyms

CAAZ/ SAAZ Central Addis Ababa Zone\South Addis Ababa

Zone

NAAZ /EAAZ North Addis Ababa Zone/East Addis Ababa

Zone

WAAZ / SWAAZ West Addis Ababa Zone/South West Addis Ababa

Zone

ETA Ethiopian Telecommunication Authority

ETC Ethiopian Telecommunication Corporation

IBTE Imperial Board of Telecommunication Ethiopia

ER / NR East Region/North Region

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NER / NWR North East Region/ North West Region

WR/ SWR West Region/South West Region

SR / SER South Region/ South East Region

EPON Ethernet Passive Optical Network

GPON Giga byte Passive Optical Network

EVDO Evolution Data Only

CDMA/ WCDMA Code Division Multiple Access

GSM Global System for Mobile Communication

AMPS Advanced Mobile Phone System

HSDPA/HSUPA High Speed Down link/Uplink Packet Access

GPRS General Packet Radio Service

LTE Long-Term Evolution

PSTN Public Switched Telecommunication Network

ISDN-E1 Integrated Service Digital Network

M2M Machine To Machine

ADSL Asymmetric digital subscriber line

VSAT Very Small Aperture Terminal

VPN Virtual Private Network

MPLS Multi-Protocol Labeled Switch

IPLC International Private Leased Circuit

GOTA Global Open Trucking Architected

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VDSL Very-High-Bit-Rate Digital Subscriber Line

SIM Subscriber identity module

SMS Short message service

VDSL Virtual digital subscriber line

CSD Customer service division

PMO project management section

SOHO Small office home office

IPCC Internet protocol contact center

VOIP Voice over internet protocol

List of figures
Figure 1. Organizational structure of Ethio Telecom---------------------------------------------------
Figure 2.overall work flow of custemer survice---------------------------------------------------------
Figure 3.snapshot of ZSMART software------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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 List of Table
Table 1. customer category---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

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vii
Table of Contents
Acknowledgment...........................................................................................................................iii
Abstract..........................................................................................................................................iv
Abbreviations and Acronyms..........................................................................................................v
List of figures.................................................................................................................................vii
List of Table..................................................................................................................................viii
CHAPTER-1 1 Introduction.............................................................................................................1
1.1 Background of Ethio -Telecom..............................................................................................1
1.2 Vision and Mission of the company......................................................................................2
1.2.1 Mission of the Company................................................................................................2
1.2.2 Vision of the company...................................................................................................2
1.3 Organizational Structure of Ethio Telecom...........................................................................2
1.4 Work flow of Ethio Telecom.................................................................................................4
1.5 Main products and services..................................................................................................5
1.6 Customers or end users of Ethio Telecom............................................................................9
Chapter- 2.....................................................................................................................................10
2 Over all Internship Experience...................................................................................................10
2.1 Objective of the training.....................................................................................................10
2.2 Entrance of Ethio-telecom..................................................................................................11
2.3 Working sections of company.............................................................................................11
2.4 Customer service division...................................................................................................12
2.4.1 Introduction.................................................................................................................12
2.5 Work flow of customer service division..............................................................................12
2.3.3 Contact (call) center section........................................................................................16
2.3.4 Trouble Ticket (TT) section...........................................................................................18
2.3.5 Technical support section............................................................................................21
CHAPTER-3....................................................................................................................................22
1 3 Troubleshoot of customer devices in TT section................................................................22
3.1. Introduction.......................................................................................................................22
3.2. Short summary of the project............................................................................................22
3.3. Statement of problem & justification................................................................................22

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 3.4. Literature review...............................................................................................................23
3.5. Objective of the project.....................................................................................................27
3.5.1. General Objective.......................................................................................................27
3.6. Methodology.....................................................................................................................27
3.6.1. Software used.............................................................................................................27
3.6.2. Devices required.........................................................................................................27
3.6.3. Design method............................................................................................................28
3.7 Discussion and conclusion..................................................................................................31
3.8 Limitation of the project.....................................................................................................31
Chapter Four.................................................................................................................................32
4 Challenges and Benefits of the Internship.................................................................................32
4.1 Measurements to Overcome the Challenges......................................................................32
4.2. Overall Benefits Gained from the Internship.....................................................................32
4.2.1 in terms of understanding work ethics and related issues...........................................33
4.2.2 in terms of improving our Practical Skills.....................................................................33
4.2.3 in terms of upgrading interpersonal communication Skills..........................................35
4.2.4 In terms of updating team playing Skills......................................................................35
4.2.5 in terms of improving leadership Skills........................................................................36
4.2.6 in terms of upgrading our theoretical skills..................................................................36
4.2.7 in terms of improving entrepreneurship Skills.............................................................37
Chapter Five..................................................................................................................................38
5 Conclusions and Recommendations..........................................................................................38
5.1. Conclusion.........................................................................................................................38
5.2 Recommendations..............................................................................................................39
5.2.1 Recommendation to Ethio-Telecom............................................................................39
5.2.2 Recommendation to Axum University.........................................................................39
6 Reference...................................................................................................................................40
7Appendices.................................................................................................................................40

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 CHAPTER-1
1 Introduction
1.1 Background of Ethio -Telecom
In this section before we see the brief history of Ethio telecom we deal with the
long history of telecommunications in Ethiopia since it is the back bone of the current
existence of Ethio Telecom as Telecommunications Company.
Telecommunications service was introduced in Ethiopia by Emperor Menelik II in
1894, after 17 years it is introduced to the world. Ethiopian Telecommunications
Corporation is the oldest public telecommunications operator in Africa After the end of
the war against Italy, during which telecommunication network was destroyed, Ethiopia
re-organized the Telephone, Telegraph and Postal services in 1941. In 1952 the Imperial
Board of Telecommunications (IBTE) was established by proclamation No. 131/52 in
1952. The Board had full financial and administrative autonomy and was in charge of the
provision and expansion of telecommunications services in Ethiopia.
The Imperial Board of Telecommunications of Ethiopia, which became the
Ethiopian Telecommunications Authority in 1981, was placed in charge of both the
operation and regulation of telecommunication services in the wake of the market
reforms. In 1996, the Government established a separate regulatory body, the Ethiopian
Telecommunication Agency (ETA) by Proclamation 49/1996, and during the same year,
by regulation 10/1996, the Council of Ministers set up the Ethiopian Telecommunications
Corporation (ETC). Under the supervision of the ETA, the principal duty of ETC is
maintaining and expanding telecommunication services in the country and providing
domestic and international telephone, telex, and other communication services. Currently
ET is the only operator of any telecommunication related service.

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1.2 Vision and Mission of the company

1.2.1 Mission of the Company

The main missions of Ethio telecom are: -
Connect Ethiopia through telecom service
Provide high quality, innovative and affordable telecom products and
services that enhance the development of our nation and ensure high
customer satisfaction.
Build reputable brand known for its customers’ consideration.
Build its managerial capability and manpower talent that enables Ethio
telecom to operate at international level.
Support community and environmental development.

1.2.2 Vision of the company

The main vision of Ethio telecom is to be a world-class telecom services
provider
create improved service availability by optimizing of the network
coverage
an increased availability of service based on comprehensive sales
organization
A quality-oriented customer service focusing on increasing customer
satisfaction and operations efficiency.

1.3 Organizational Structure of Ethio Telecom

Ethio Telecom gets organized under the control of France Telecom (FT) as it is
scheduled on the transformation of Ethiopian Telecommunications Corporations to
Ethio Telecom for those five years after the reborn of telecommunications service in
Ethiopia . But now Ethio telecom is working with China’s company like that of ZTE
(Zhong Xing Telecommunication Equipment) and Huawei. Based on this fact it is clearly
seen on the organizational structure that the key positions of the organization is taken by

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those from Ethio telecom officers. The position that run by Ethio telecom officers like
Legal, Security and Finance sectors are under the control of Ethiopian Officers. The
Ethio telecom company has been organizational structured by one head quarter, six zonal
offices (in Addis Ababa) and eight regional offices.
The six zonal offices of Ethio telecom are:
EAAZ
NAAZ
CAAZ
WAAZ
SAAZ
SWAAZ
The regional offices have eight main offices are as follows
ER &JIJIGA (DIRE DAWA)
NR(MEKELLE)
NER& SEMERA(DESSIE)
NWR (BAHIRDAR)
WR&ASSOSA(NEKEMET)
SWR& GAMBELLA(JIMMA)
SR&SSWR(HAWASSA)
SER(ADAMA)
Generally, the organizational structure of the Ethio telecom can be depicted as shown
below;

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Figure 1. Organizational structure of Ethio Telecom
1.4 Work flow of Ethio Telecom
Ethio Telecom organizational structure includes different functional divisions that
are under direct administration of Board of Directors. As the figure above shown the
organizational structure of Ethio telecom depends on functional structure. The company
has six major significant divisions, which is led by chief officer, departments led by
officer and section led by managers. Even if this is creating divisional rivalries it is best
suit the company for the easy implementation of Enterprise solutions applications. To
grasp on our target divisions, Residential division is responsible for the sales generated
from residential people. Enterprise division is responsible for all enterprises like
government organization, profit and nonprofit organizations. Customer service divisions
undertake after sales and presales activities mainly 994, 980 for VIP customers.
Technical Division the core division of the company which is responsible for entire
network management of the company. Information system division facilitates and ensures
the automation part of the company as well as provides necessary detailed and

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summarized information for managers depending on their request. When we see this all
the board of directors is the final controller of the company.

1.5 Main products and services

Even if there are some difference on which products must be accessed by which
customer, Ethio Telecom as a company has many product and services offered to its
customers. Since there are two types of customers in Ethio Telecom which will be
discussed in the next sections. The main products and services given by Ethio telecom to
customers are categorized as follows.
Mobile services
Broadband internet services
Fixed line services
Product and service description

Mobile services
GSM Mobile (prepaid/ postpaid)
WCDMA
GOTA (Global Open Trucking Architecture)
Satellite Mobile Telephone
Mobile Roaming service
GSM Mobile (prepaid/ postpaid)
The service is given using SIM (Subscriber Information Module). It has voice, data,
SMS, and other value-added capabilities, in order to use the service in pre-paid scenario;
it is required to charge using stretchable cards and for postpaid services, users are
charged at the end of every month (usage charge + Rent).
Services offered in addition to Voice are:
SMS (Short Messaging Service): Before using this service, the message service
center should be set by putting +251911299708.
Call divert: It allows an incoming call to a called party to be redirected to another
mobile or fixed telephone number.
Call waiting: is a feature that alerts someone using the phone to an incoming call
and allows switching between calls.

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 Call barring: This service enables to restrict or bar certain or all types of calls to
and from your mobile phone.
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS): It is a mobile data service available to
users of GSM mobile phones. To use GPRS setting access point to APN etc.com
is required.
Credit transfer service for prepaid mobile customer: Ethio Telecom has recently
launched a credit transfer service for the prepaid mobile customers in order to
meet the needs communities living in voucher card inaccessible areas.
WCDMA
It offers a wide range of advanced services; high speed internet access, video and
High-Quality image transmission, video conversation, and online chat. It requires cell
phones that support 3G services, users are charged at the end of every month (usage
charge + Rent), accessing calls while browsing the web pages is possible, you can
transmit and receive data at greater speed and capacity, and it also supports all services

offered by 2G GSM Services offered in addition to Voice.

GOTA
GOTA (Global Open Trucking Architecture) is a service given using the
CDMA2000 wireless network for the purpose of group communication, the service
allows two or more individuals to communicate and also use it for private and group
calls, and the service also allows the subscriber to make external calls by also subscribing
to the mobile wireless service.
It is also allowing the following functionalities:
Users can subscribe to make or receive calls with external network with full or
limited mobility.
One-to-one private calls and one-to-many group calls.
The ability to set the user’s priority.
The ability to provide special services such as system paging, group paging,
sub group paging.

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Satellite Mobile Telephone
Satellite Mobile Telephone service enables customers in every part of the globe to
be beneficiaries of telecom services through satellites stationed on the universe. This kind
of service needs special telephone apparatus. This telephone services have been also
provided to those customers found outside the mobile telephone coverage. They provide
similar functionality to terrestrial mobile telephones; voice, short messaging service and
low-bandwidth internet access are supported through these systems. It is important
service for enterprises mainly working in an area not covered by the GSM network.
Mobile Roaming service
Roaming service will provide the ability for wireless customers to automatically
make and receive voice calls, send and receive data, or access other services when
travelling outside the geographical coverage area of ET, by means of using a visited
country’s operator’s network. There are two types of roaming services. These are out
bound roaming and in bound roaming. This service is provided only for GSM postpaid
customers.
Broad band internet services
Wired broad band internet
Wireless broad band internet
Broad band data (MPLS-VPN)
Wired broad band internet
The wired broad band is provided through copper or fibber with different access
methods (ADSL, ADSL2, ADSL2+ and VDSL2). It can be provided with different speed
depending on customers‟ requirement and the access they use. Customers can buy CPEs
or rent from ET. Asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) is one form of the digital
subscriber line, a data communications technology that enables faster data transmission
over copper telephone lines. Through ADSL customers will get a better, affordable,
reliable and faster internet connection starting from 950 birrs per month.
Wireless broad band internet
The wireless can be given through EVDO, VSAT and AIRONET. EVDO is
standard for high speed wireless broad band. The acronym is short for “Evolution Data
Only” or “Evolution Data Optimized”. It is a CDMA technology that supports the high-

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speed internet data connection with peak speed of 3.1mb/s and with an average speed of
800kb/s -1.7mb/s. it works where ever CDMA network is available. EVDO is given in
both post-paid and pre-paid format. It is now available throughout Addis Ababa and 200
major towns and cities in Ethiopia
Broad band data (MPLS-VPN)
Virtual private network VPN is a network that uses a public telecommunication
infrastructure, such as internet to provide remote offices or individual users with secure
access to their organization’s network and data. ET gives VPN service mainly through
MPLS (multi-protocol labeled switch) network. MPLS-VPN is a virtual private network a
multi -protocol labeled switch to deliver data, voice and video service using a shared
telecom infrastructure.
Fixed line services
A. Fixed Line Telephone Service (PSTN)
B. ISDN – E1 Service
C. Short Code Service
Fixed Telephone Service (PSTN)
Fixed Line is a service used only at homes and offices.
The service is available for sales in all Ethio telecom shops.
B. ISDN-E1 Service
Integrated Services Digital Network (ISDN) is a service sending voice, video,
and data over digital telephone lines or normal telephone wires with data
transfer rates of 64 Kbps (64,000 bits per second).
An E1 has 32 channels. Ethio telecom provides 30 channels to users, and the
rest 2 are used for internal purpose (signaling purpose).
The service is available at Enterprise Centers.
C. Short Code Services

Special telephone numbers with short digit less than a normal number.
Used for television program voting, charity donations and so on.
The service is available at enterprise centers

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1.6 Customers or end users of Ethio Telecom
Generally, the customers of Ethio Telecom are the entire people of Ethiopia where
the company’s network is covered. The reason behind this is that everyone can use the
network of Ethio Telecom. Ethio Telecom customers are divided into two to make its
work clear and efficient. The two types of ET customers are Enterprise customers and
Residential customers.
The Enterprise customers are those customers like governmental organizations, private
companies and nongovernmental organizations. On the other hand, the residential
customers are those customers who are single users like you and me.

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 Chapter- 2
2 Over all Internship Experience
During the internship several activities have contributed to achieve a number of
goals. At the beginning of the internship formilating several learning goals was a
mandatory step which we wanted to achieve:
To understand the functioning and working conditions of the organization
To see what looks like to work in a professional environment
To see if this kind of work is a possibility for future career
To use our gained skills and knowledge
To see what skills and knowledge still need to work in a professional
environment;
To learn about the organizing of a research project (planning, preparation,
permissions)
To learn about research methodologies (field methods/methods to analyze
data)
To get experience in working with students from another university;
To enhance communication skills;
This internship report contains activities that have contributed to achieve a
number of those stated goals. Internships are designed to expand the depth and breadth
of academic learning for student in particular areas of study An internship can also
heighten awareness of community issues, motivate to create opportunities, embrace new
ideas, and give direction to positive change.This internship was a way to get valuable
information in making decisions about the direction of future studies or employment.
2.1 Objective of the training
To understand and list the vision, mission and major objective and structure
of the company.
To establish a solid knowledge base in the fundamentals of telecom, data
communication &networking to build.
developed the vibrant move of the technology evolution in Ethio telecom

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 To have bird’s eye view on the imminent telecom technologies
After the end of the training the Head office HR told us there is election by
chance to where we work. There is no other way or choice to make change if it’s not
comfortable even not in your type of work place. They told us the places and in each
place the amount of intern student assigned. Then we took ours which was CSD. After
the end of the program the Head officer told us to meet there to have work visit on
October 21to 22.

2.2 Entrance of Ethio-telecom

According to our stream the UIL office of Aksum University and Ethio-telecom
gave the chance for us to work in the company. For that matter, the internship studies
have to be something concerning with communication engineering.
To be assigned in the Ethio-telecom which was basically our interest to work there after
getting the company, human resource had assigned interns in to different divisions and
departments by preparing lottery as follows.

2.3 Working sections of company

Ethio Telecom has many workers that worked in different places in different
department sector. In this Company there are different working sections. Among those
are;

Customer service
enterprise
information system
network engineering
fixed access network
network project rollout
network service& IT management
operation & maintenance
project management office

Based on the lottery, we joined to CSD and stayed there for about four months.
Being assigned the division of customer service, we familiarized with the sub-divisions

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and their application where they are going to be focused. The following sub topics are the
technologies used and the activities undertaken in the departments. The activities are not

Only what we had observed, they are also what we have been performing, executing and
participating in that division.

2.4 Customer service division

2.4.1 Introduction
Customer service division mainly stands for customer satisfaction by handling
them complain using different systems. The division has 9 sections and have their own
system. Totally the main systems in the division are more than 23, including with some
other supportive which are not acknowledged and rarely used systems. The systems have
their own owner, description and role at each section. Some are the same and some are
different on their characters.
This division has an introduction training concerned on these general tasks of the
CSD for those interns that joins this section. and it has the following main objectives:
To create understanding on systems which are used in CSD sections.
knowing systems that are functional and to use them.
To understand their roles.
To know the owner of each systems

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2.5 Work flow of customer service division
As in general custemer service is structered with the overall work flow which is
depicted as shown below.

Customer service
division

PMO section R &O section

Front office Back office department Operation support

department department

Contact center section Service provisioning

Process & quality
support & activation
section

Trouble ticket section Billing & credit control Technical support

section section

Customer profile On job training

management section section

Customer service
management section

Figure 2.overall work flow of customer service

Under customer service division, there are two sections namely Project
Management Office (PMO) and Reporting & Operations Support (R&O section), and

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three departments which are Front Office, Back Office and Operations Support
department.

Project Management Office (PMO) Section

The PMO section is just a bridge between the departments or/and sections and the
chief customer service officer in every activity. The main Activities of Project
Management Office Section are:-

Projects and actions follow-up and update

Budget updating and auditing
Preparing reports
Reporting and Operations Support Section

The Reporting and Operations Support section has different duties and activities.
Among them the main activities are: -
Call Center Reporting, TT reporting
transport and other related activity preparations
Recruitment and other HR actions coordination and Attendance Activity
Front office (FO) Department
FO department is led by an officer. The department has two sections: Contact
Center Section and TT Section. Here are summary activities of the sections:

Contact Center Section

The contact center functions using two access numbers 994 ,980 and
multichannel .994 is dedicated for residential and SOHO customers to enquire any after
sales issue; such as complaint, request for information, bill related issues, etc.980 is
dedicated for high class customers and key account customers for similar purpose as 994
by Creating trouble tickets for incidents that are not solved in first Call.

Trouble Ticket Section

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 Trouble tickets section is the central management of all customer complaints of
all Ethio telecom customers. The section is managed by one manager and four
supervisors. It Manages high class customers’ maintenance including troubleshooting end
to end by giving field support to network team.

Back Office (BO) Department

Have Five sections with the following main activities:-

1. Retention and Loyalty (R&L) -performs

 Contacting customers for confirmation for TT resolution before TT is archived;

 Welcoming new customers and asking for any challenge they faced over the
phone.

2. Customer Service Management (CSM) - are responsible for

 Visiting key account customers those who are under CSM proto type
 Analyze frequent problems faced by customers and work for solution with
stakeholders

3. Service Provisioning Support and Activation (SPS&A) - Section activities are:-

 Support sales representatives on service provisioning

 Handling poor quality voucher card complaint

4. Customer Profile management (CPM) - performs:-

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  Managing customer profile/document registration and approval in a centralized
manner,
 Avail Customer profile/document for legal Authorities and after sales service

5. Billing and Credit Control (B&CC) -Section activities are:

 Bill quality checking and coordination for adjustment when needed

 Bill complaint handling.

Operations Support Department

This department have the following section those are:-

1. Process and Quality- with a responsibilities of

 To keep updated Knowledge Base

 Coordinate transversally within the Division

2. Technical Support -and Section activities are:-

 Interface between Customer Services and IT

 New tools implementation when/if needed

3. On the Job Training -Section activities are:-

 Formalise training material

 Handle the training sessions

From the above sections of customer service we have been working in the following
sections only:

Contact center section

TT section

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 Technical Support Section

2.3.3 Contact (call) center section

Call center has three stations these are in Leghar, Old airport and Churchill (TPO) and
we were assigned in the Leghar station. The worker in this section is called agent. They
give solution for inquiry of customers through Dial-In also customers can call to call
center to get the required services.

The agents have their own team members and controlled by a coach. One coach
controls 12 agents. The coach controls the agents based on their audio they say. When an
agent gives service to customers it must follow the following procedures.

1. Introducing company name

2. Introducing your own first name
3. Say to the customer what I can help you
4. Reformation
5. Concentration & attention
6. Ability to lead the call
7. Words & attitude
8. Bright & positive response
9. Happiness, motivation & willingness to serve
10. Asking whether the information provided is clear
11. Provide gratitude
12. Good bye conversation
13. Call hang up
14. Voice volume
15. Flexibility & adaptive nature
16. Accurate talking speed
17. Easy to be captured by the customer
18. Follow CC procedure
19. Call categorization

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 The coach evaluates each agents based on the above procedures. If the agent
misses one procedure from the above list the coach gives zero in that procedure. To
perform all the tasks above the agents as well as the coach uses the following software’s.

IPCC
ZSMART
IPCC (Internet Protocol Contact Center)
IPCC is software developed by HUAWEI Corporation, and is mainly used to
call to and receive calls from customers. It can also be used to manage
employees: especially those who work around different call centers, in such a
way that they may improve their telephone etiquette, performances, and
soon.
It integrates the access processing technologies of media such as the internet,
( voice over internet protocol ) VOIP, E-mail, fax and video.
ZSMART
It is a system that can provide a full process of close-loop management:
complaint, assignment, handling and archiving of troubles. It’s mainly used to
closely follow-up on cases and gives updates to customers without difficulty,
whenever asked.
Here follows the snapshots for this software:

Here follows the snapshot of this software:

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Figure 3.snapshot of ZSMART software

2.3.4 Trouble Ticket (TT) section

TT section is a section by which tickets created for faults reported by different
customers are followed up till time of resolution. Main tasks performed in TT section are:

Accept fault reports directly from VIP customer contacts or via tickets created by
980 agents
Identify the type and location of the fault and dispatch it to the concerned team
Teams in TT Section

TT section has the following teams:

Escalation Team
High Class Team
Major Team
PSTN Team
Escalation Team

The main tasks performed by this team are:

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 Receive and evaluate cases and tickets which come from different sections that
are either long lasted or need to be handled with urgency
Call and update customers with the current status of their case at least two times a
day

High Class Team

The main tasks performed by this team are:

Receive tickets with „Critical‟, „SLA‟ and „Special‟ trouble grades created at CC
(980 & 994)
Troubleshoot and try to resolve the issues reported remotely

Major Team

The main tasks performed by this team are similar to that of the High Class Team.
The only differences are: This team receive tickets with Normal, Major, Top Residential
and Top Enterprise trouble grades created at CC (980 & 994) - Tickets with the above
mentioned trouble grades will automatically be assigned to CC outbound team for
confirmation, allowing this team to focus on the maintenance work.

Customer Category Trouble Grade

Top 60 VIP Critical

Enterprises Major

Top residential Major

Residential Minor

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 Table 1. Customer category

PSTN Team

The main tasks performed by this team is receiving tickets created for fixed line
fault reports, with all trouble grades and for confirmation once the issue is resolved.

System and Application Software Used in TT section

In order to perform the tasks mentioned above, all teams in this section use some
or all of the under listed system software and applications:

Z-Smart TT
Secure CRT
NetNumen
Z-Smart TT

It is a system that can provide a full process of close-loop management:

complaint, assignment, handling, acknowledgement and archiving of troubles and alarms
from different sources.

Secure CRT

It is Telnet client and terminal emulator by Vandyke Software. We use it to access

the different NEs in ET’s network.

NetNumen

It is an integrated network management system that provides centralized and

unified way of network management.

2.3.5 Technical support section

As we mention before technical support team gives support for those agent who
are working in call center happens a problem such as:

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 When the user face a problem to login /logout the team gives its support by
checking the network cable and check the agent’s user name and password.
When customer’s sound is not listened by adjusting the volume or earphone etc...
Methods and procedures
The first thing is to do the operators when starting his/her works him/her
must follow these methods and procedures of the IPCC software. And in order to
start working with IPCC the operators must follow the following procedures.
1. Must plug in headset
2. Open the folder of IPCC document
3. Enter his/her user name and password
4. Click on “ok” then the operator starts his/her work

CHAPTER-3

1 3 Troubleshoot of customer devices in TT section

3.1. Introduction
Installation, configuration and trouble shooting of customer devices is used
serving a customer through providing data and internet services. And is used for

22
providing a support when some kinds of faults are happened both at customer side and
service provider’s side (Tele).like when a device is at down condition. So devices for
customers such as:-
ADSL modems like Huawei, ZTE, Cisco, Etc...through copper lines
EPON fiber cables
GPON
Are can be used for providing broadband service for customers. Switch, routers
and other manageable network equipment have included support for this network system.
Routing and switching is an important process in networking system and
telecommunication. Basic function of routing is to make sure that the routers and
switches can communicate each other and to perform data transfer from source to
destination.

3.2. Short summary of the project

A VLAN is a logical grouping of network resources and host devices based on the
ports where those hosts connect to the switch. In this project, we build a network that
enable customers devices to be configured and maintained in the case of fault happening.
And it is designed for the sake of satisfying the need of both service providers and interns
as end users (customers).So this project is designed using cisco packet tracer on a VLAN
10 on Tele VLAN range.by simulating the system we resulted with communication of
end devices in the section.

3.3. Statement of problem & justification

During the whole internship experience in Tele we had faced some problems that
targets on TT section and even the whole Tele Company like:-

Lack of alarming on billing system of Ethio telecom

Limited access on configuration and management of customer devices by TT
section. So this leads to staff members not to manage device fully.so the question
of being customer devices able to be checked, Configured and managed were
raised. And also it answers that how interns coming from different universities
can use these devices in order to have enough understanding on troubleshooting

23
 of faults happened on such devices and way of communication between devices
and Tele. This is done to:-
1. Keep customer privacy
2. Minimize the time wastage of TT staff agents
3. Let interns understand and have experience on how devices can be
maintained.
For time being the paper was designed only to have an answer to the third
problem.
Solution

Configuring customer devices as a sample in TT section with PCs, and Tele devices.

3.4. Literature review

A relatively unbiased overview of VLAN technology comes from Passmore and
Freeman (1998), writing a white paper for 3Com, Inc. VLANs, they say, “represent an
alternative solution to routers for broadcast containment, since VLANs allow switches to
also contain broadcast traffic" While many enterprises have used switches to segment
their networks, standard switches do not stop broadcast traffic.VLAN technology allows
broadcast containment without the high cost and speed penalty of routers.

VPN (Virtual Private Network) is a network that enable customers to have their
own private network via internet or other public telecommunication system. Is an access
device, usually Customer Premises Equipment (CPE):-

ADSL

Referred to as modem, located at customer end for a purpose of connecting.

Is a form of DSL, a data communications technology that enables faster data

transmission over copper telephone line

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 Asymmetric - The data can flow faster in one direction than the other. Data
transmission has faster downstream to the subscriber than upstream.

Digital - No type of communication is transferred in an analog method. All data is

purely digital, and only at the end, modulated to be carried over the line.

Subscriber Line - The data is carried over a single twisted pair copper loop to the
su8bscriber premises

The three most commonly used ADSL modems in ET these days are:

1. ZTE ADSL Modem

Is an ADSL access device to support multiple line modes

It provides four Ethernet interfaces at the user end
The best example is ZXDSL 831Cll

Figure:-ZTE ADSL Modem_ ZXDSL 831Cll

2. Huawei Modem

Provides small and private networks with simple architecture.

It also provides secure and cost-efficient ADSL Internet connection.
It enables many interactive multi-media applications

25
 Best example is MT800

Figure:-Huawei Modem_MT800

3. Cisco Modem

It’s part of the Cisco routers series.

Connections using Cisco Internetwork Operating System (IOS) software.
It has advanced management capabilities to lower operational costs.
Best example is SOHO 96

26
 Figure:-Cisco Modem _ SOHO 96

Ethernet Passive Optical Network (EPON)

EPON is one form of PON standards with a capacity of 1Gbps symmetric data
rate.

Every MSAG has one EPOI card which can be in service for 8/16/32/64
customers.

Figure:-EPON Modem

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 Figure:-devices used in Ethiotelecom network topology

3.5. Objective of the project

3.5.1. General Objective

This paper is aimed to grasp some knowledge about installation, configuration
and troubleshooting of different customer devices by having those devices in the section.

3.5.2. Specific objective

Introducing common types of ADSL modems and their configuration.

To make interns coming to this company each year able to understand and
have experience on troubleshooting a fault that happened on different
modems.
Is making TT section agents able to perform their jobs freely without
interference of interns by keeps customer’s privileges.

3.6. Methodology

3.6.1. Software used

The software cisco packet tracer 6.1 student was used to do devices configuration.

3.6.2. Devices required

Router-core

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 Switch2950-24(1)
PCs(9)
Laptops(5)
Cables-straight through and fiber
Access point(2)
Modems(2)-EPON1841 and ADSL2911

3.6.3. Design method

This project work was designed and tested for several times, by creating basic
configuration on switch and PC, the basic configuration was done by putting the cables in
the ports and setting the IP address for each port that has been used. Basically this
configuration was done on packet tracer and also implemented physically (practically).

So the connectivity can be shown as bellow:-

Figure: basic switch and PC configuration on cisco packet tracer

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Figure: hardware implementation for Switch Configuration

By getting observed result then checking of connectivity between switch and PC

was necessary. And based on the first experiment on switch configuration we were
initiated to investigate the observed problem.

Devices like ADSL can be configured manually in Tele TT section through the
three most known modems like Cisco, ZTE and Huawei. Also the same is true for EPON.
Those devices also can be put directly in TT section as a customer devices which can
support interns by helping them to learn about the section’s activities more. This is done
through by putting the devices in the section without using gateway box like MSAG and
MSAN. To do this connecting those customer devices with switch and interns PCs were
needed.

And Initially the VLAN 10 interface is in the down state even though we entered
the command no shutdown. The interface is currently down because no switch ports are
assigned to that VLAN. To establish connectivity between the host and the switch, the
ports used by the host must be in the same VLAN as the switch. To verify the
management interface settings on VLAN 10. We entered the command SID#show
interface VLAN10 to know:-

the bandwidth on this interface

The VLAN states
the queuing strategy
Line protocol

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 Figure:-packet tracer simulation

Result

Figure: IOS command line interface

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3.7 Discussion and conclusion
From the result of packet tracer we can see that each team agent PCs are
connected with the main switch of TT section that is still configured with the core
router. Even the manager and four supervisors can check and have connectivity’s
with their particular agents and also with irrespective agents. Each devices like EPON
and ADSL can be configured and accessed by agents, intern PC’s, supervisor and
managers.

So we can concluded that any interns coming each year to this section can use,
Access and have an experience with them as customer devices which are installed in
the section. And as an engineer interns can understand and have enough knowledge
about installation, communication and configuration of such devices. Even we
understood that customer devices are also can be checked by TT staff members as
FAN and NNOC teams with no need of getaway devices like MSAG and MSAN.

3.8 Limitation of the project

Even the project has reached its aims, there were some un-avoidable limitations.

Lack of material to do hardware implementation. Such as:

 Router with Ethernet interface to connect switch

 other network devices(like wireless devices )

As we are not administrator for the system, we could not have the access to
necessary software and to take it out from the company so that we can
perform our project easily. This is because of most software
implementation is developed by ZTE Company, Which is accomplished by
chines staffs.

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 Chapter Four
4 Challenges and Benefits of the Internship
Besides grasping an experienced knowledge from the internship, some challenges
are faced in the different sections of the CS division. Like:-

Limited internet access dominated by company intranet access.

Lack of material support for demonstration after getting theoretical concept.
Finding more experienced engineers who can support interns in many aspects
during finding and solving problems.
Lack of awareness : staff members in different sections to not expect solving of
big and challenging problems from intern
Having less number of contacts with the company supervisors due to their
busyness, as they had to move from place to place more frequently. This was
happened on the time of seeking an advice for solving internship problems.

4.1 Measurements to Overcome the Challenges

Even though we didn’t expect the above challenges to be on our way, we tried to
deal with them in a win-win situation as soon as we realized they exist. Of course in our
first encounter we were a little confused about whom to ask what and found it a little
difficult to ask employees during their work time. But over time, we developed our
communication skills and respectfully tried to get know more employees as friends.
When some of them are too busy, there will be a probability that at least one of the
employee is not. Here are some of the measurements that were token to overcome the
challenges.

Reading documents at office. Like training tools and telephone directory book.
Assigning us with some tasks to make ourself busy during observing the process.
Asking other electrical Engineers for their consult on what we got from our data
analysis.

4.2. Overall Benefits Gained from the Internship

During the whole past four months internship stay at Ethio telecom, Interns had
aimed to have gained benefits from the internship experience through providing and

33
introducing interns with the professional field. This was done by understanding and
analyzing how communication is achieved over a long distance (telecommunication) and
how it is organized to detect an error (faults). Ethio telecom internship program provides
for interns who wants to have awareness on voice and data communication by gaining
basic and experienced knowledge about their concern. We were greatly benefited from
working with the dedicated professionals in the company.

Generally, the past four months provided me different skills during the internship
in terms of the following basic and necessary aspects:

4.2.1 in terms of understanding work ethics and related issues

Work ethics are very important part of personal as well as professional life. With
the proper work ethics, a person become more responsible and focused towards his/her
job. The person also cultivates a sense of achievement around his work. This definitely
has some positive effects on his/her career growth as well as on the progress of the
company.
Work ethics means:-
How one looks at this job
What will be expected from his job
How would a person go ahead with his/her professions and
Respecting and accepting others opinion
Ethics at the work place means the positive aspect that makes the work force
companion, like honesty, integrity, dedication, determination, commitment etc. In
general, we understood that a good work ethics includes: Positive outlook, Respect to co-
workers, Honesty and sincerity, Understanding approach, Empathy and sensitivity and
etc…There is a good condition in the work that makes we feel obligated to practice
whatever is expected from an employee for our case an intern student. Due to that being
stayed on the company we were punctual, daily attendant in the work & responsible to
our profession. Since we settled on the company: we had developed the so called work
ethics.

34
 4.2.2 in terms of improving our Practical Skills
Being as it’s commonly practiced, most of the courses we took in class dealt with
the theoretical side of engineering. Some lecturers took the initiative and tried to illustrate
the practical part of this field by displaying different graphic images in their lectures or
suggested materials. But these trials were futile and failed to give us the clear picture.
This internship program was exactly what we needed to nurture the lack of practical skills
that we had. While we were on the job we got the opportunity to learn different aspects of
practical and technical Skills, such as:-

Understanding to setting out the configuration of servers, customer devices

manually.
Understanding some trouble shouting software that the customer service section
of Ethio telecom uses to solve customers’ fault when customers have got trouble.
Like:-
1. ZSMART-is to crate TT
2. ZSMART TT-is to solve the created TT
Upgrading the way of configuring and checking of end devices
Using Ethio-telecoms software besides cisco packet tracer that we used
before. Like:-
1. secured CRT
2. U2000
3. U31 and Others.
We got knowledge for solving the problem when agent computer are failed for the
required system like :-
1. Login logon
2. IPCC account
Technical understanding on the causes of failures that happen both on customer’s
sides and company sides. Like:-
1. PSTN failure
2. Internet (data) failure

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 4.2.3 in terms of upgrading interpersonal communication Skills
Starting from interacting with many workers in the Company, The whole
internship experience had improved our communication skills in very good manner
which we could talk to any staff members in the company with full confidence and as
easily as possible.

In the company we were given the chance to talk and interview important people
from different staffs. All in all we have gained confidence on how to ask different
questions, to make discussions, to answer questions when asked, to respond to superiors,
and etc. Generally the whole past months had been upgrading our speaking skills.

4.2.4 In terms of updating team playing Skills

As a profession playing as team is a mandatory skill in any field. If there are
disagreements between the employees, it is very difficult to go ahead with the works.
And as part of a team, an engineer should have to work with a positive attitude within a
group for the success and achievements of a project. Confident and enthusiastic engineers
are able to succeed by gaining the trust of co-workers.

As intern students, Ethio-telecom assigned us in team of five students. So that an

opportunity was created for us to develop team work skills. During our day to day
activities we acquired the above some benefits related to team work.

We possess Good team worker with the following skills:

Communicates constructively
Listens actively
Functions as an active participant
Shares openly and willingly
Cooperates and pitches in to help
Shows commitment and monitoring to the team
Works as a problem-solver
Treats others in a respectful and supportive manner

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 4.2.5 in terms of improving leadership Skills
Being a leader is not an easy task. The question of leadership comes when there is
division of work. At the company we were able to see different engineers, supervisors,
coaches in hierarchical work and lead the staff workers and the engineers under them. We
have observed that leadership is a great responsibility that one has to make the team in
which he is leading initiated and encouraged. This will enable to get a good result, so that
the work is more than the expected. During these times we were able to observe that one
should have great skills to be a leader, such as:

Good speaking ability.

The ability to listen to others.
Being decisive.
Good management skills.
Knowing the subject one is working on thoroughly.

4.2.6 in terms of upgrading our theoretical skills

The internship takes a great roll In terms of upgrading theoretical knowledge. It
helps to gain more theoretical knowledge related to the real world that didn’t get it from
school. And this helps us to know how our theoretical knowledge is cooperated with
many other professions and leads us in to multidimensional way of thinking.

In addition to the practical skills this program was a great chance to strengthen our
theoretical knowledge and gain meaningful engineering experience to complement our
academic studies. These are:

Developed understanding of way of communication in between customers and

service providers( Tele )
Matured the knowledge of different ways of network topologies
Understood the call flow of IPCC
Understood the IPCC network Topology
Understood the call transfer

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 4.2.7 in terms of improving entrepreneurship Skills
These set of skills are what make a certain individual able to create a brand new
set of ideas that may help in the production process and also in any form of
activity that has a certain end product. We Understood that being an entrepreneur is
not as simple as we have imaged before, rather it is difficult to run because so many
problems are expected to be faced. But it is also profitable, if a person is strong enough to
face those problems and a well-mannered. Even we got some ideas that a wide range of
skills are seen as entrepreneurial and useful to entrepreneurs, these include both personal
traits and skills:-

Management skills - the ability to manage time and people (both a

person and others) successfully
Communication skills and the ability to sell ideas and persuade
others
The ability to work both as part of a team and independently
Able to plan, coordinate and organize effectively
Able to research effectively

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 Chapter Five

5 Conclusions and Recommendations

5.1. Conclusion
Throughout the whole four months of internship program, we have got brief
understanding at working environment. It was the place where recalling and relating the
theoretical knowledge that we possess and discuss with many experienced professionals.
Also this program creates the opportunity to think in what way we should learn
the remained lessons and what types of knowledge we have to gather/take before leaving
the university. We experienced way of utilizing wealth wisely which is the main tool for
better future life. After graduation we will have the ability of creating good interpersonal
communication skill with company workers for better achievements of intentional
goal.
We conclude that Commitment to understand, respect to his customers, valuing
the company’s employees, upholding the ethical standards are few of the many values of
the company, So the services and products it provides to its customers are: Fixed line,
Mobile service, Internet and data roaming service. Its customers are governmental
organizations, private and commercial companies, international institutions and the
society at large.
Actually, this internship program is provided to introduce and to give on how the
professional life looks like, and to make a bridge that links the student life with the
professional life, and also to observe and somehow fill the gap between the theoretical
and practical knowledge. . This program provided interns ‘with the opportunity to have
relation with some personnel and company. Ethio telecom customer service division
includes a lot of practices and activities in different aspects of Telecommunication. I have
come up to know and understand some basic things, some of this are:-
How Trouble ticket is created
How the service number status checked on the system
How the billing status checked on the system

39
 We were able to acquire a high level of confidence to deal with problems that
arise in telecommunication networks. Being an engineer in telecommunication networks,
he/she also has to be:
Sociable (to have a good communication skills )
Actionable(fast responding)
Problem solver
Work focused
Reliable and responsible for his/her work
Reasonable for any fault encountered and
Active at any time and punctual

5.2 Recommendations

5.2.1 Recommendation to Ethio-Telecom

Before all, we would like to thank Ethio telecom for giving us this opportunity to
be well experience on conducting our knowledge with the work environment and
opportunities to know the services and products of Ethio telecom. Our recommendation
for future will be:-
The company should give priority to safety and quality rather than economical
profit, but as we had observed in the company most of the devices and services have poor
quality and because of this system incidents were occurred frequently. Thus it is better to
focus on the quality of services and products.
We highly recommended that the Ethio telecom employees must not wait for
everything from the Chinese workers like the fact that they only use and follow the
software and databases of the Chinese company is not recommendable. They have to get
their own databases instead of working with misarranged data.
The division that interns take part must be only the divisions that their work has
relation with communication engineering.

5.2.2 Recommendation to Axum University

We are glad to recommend that before engaging the students in the internship
program, the university should pay attention to the order of courses to be given which are
supportive and major courses for the interns, like courses related to telecommunication. .
Any education should be supported by education tour for each related course. So, the

40
university should facilitate education trip in addition to internship. Hence we highly
recommend the universities and concerned bodies to make strict follow up on students,
working in close relationship with hosting organizations.

6 Reference

Our references that were used for preparing this paper are the following sites as
well as some information collected manually

Ethio telecom organizational overview for Induction training power point

Company documents
academic hand outs
Company website( www.ethiotelecom.com)
Ethio telecom intranet and company portal
Websites

[I]. https://www.ethiotelecom.et
[II]. https://www.google.com.et

7Appendices
Device Configuration Code
Core Router Router>
Router>enable
Router#
Router# configure terminal
Router(config)#hostname C RTR
C RTR (config)#line console 0
C RTR (config)#password Cisco
CRTR (config-line)#login
C RTR (config-line)#password Cisco

41
 C RTR (config-line)#login
C RTR (config-line)#exit
C RTR (config)#interface range fa0/1
C RTR(config-if)#ip address 192.168.1.1
255.255.255.0
C RTR (config-if)#no shutdown
C RTR (config-if)#exit
C RTR (config)#router
CRTR (config-router)#end
CRTR (config)#end
C RTR #copy running-config startup-config

Distribution Switch 1 Switch>

Switch>enable
Switch#
Switch#config terminal
Switch(config)#hostname DIS S1
DIS S1(config)#exit
DIS S1#configure terminal
DIS S1(config)#line console 0
DIS S1(config-line)#password cisco
DIS S1(config-line)#login
DIS S1(config-line)#password cisco
DIS S1(config-line)#login
DIS S1(config-line)#exit
DIS S1(config)# vlan 10

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DIS S1(config-vlan)# name TT section
DIS S1(config-vlan)#exit
DIS S1(config)#interface vlan 10
DIS S1(config-if)#ip address 192.168.1.1 255.255.255.0

DIS S1(config-if)#no shutdown

DIS S1(config-if)#exit
DIS S1#copy running-config startup-config

43