Telecomunication KM

Abilio Bernardo Caldas, Cs, MMSI

Abstract

Having a rapid business expansion in the telecommunication sector, many of Telecommunication Industry have adopted systems in managing good knowledge so as to maintain as the competitive enterprises in the global market. In this study, I intend to explore how knowledge management (KM) took place in Telecommunication Sector when developing technology intelligence within the telecommunication sector. With best practice of KM research, I make focus on the study of human resources and technology as the major solutions to the KM issues. The results presented in this study are based on survey of Telecommunication portal operate in Timor – Leste and observed since the Telecommunication operated first time after independence of Timor – Leste restauration in 2002, Telstra from Australia operated since November 1999 after referendum until 2002, new agreement with Timor Telecom subsidiary from PT TELCOM Portugal since 2002 . Some professionals and corresponding research resources.

Keyword: Knowledge Management, KM Information System, Telecommunication, KM Share, KM Learning

1. Introduction

Timor-Leste is a small island country in Southeast Asia. It gained independence from Portugal in 1975 only to be occupied by Indonesia until the late 1999s.  The reach of various media, mobile phone and internet use, as well as the effectiveness of some communication strategies.

As a multi-lingual country with over 33 local dialect languages, authors of communication strategies need to consider language carefully.  Local languages are the mother tongues of most of the population. However, Tetum is one of two official languages in Timor-Leste. The other official language, according to the constitution of 2002, is Portuguese. Bahasa Indonesia and English are considered working languages. The case study shows an increase in the use of Portuguese in the Telecommunication Knowledge Management. Because the case study research only observed and analysis from Telecommunication report provide by ITU and ASIA Pacific, and specific some observation made from the existing portal of three operators, it is too soon to capture responses of those who have gone through their schooling using Portuguese, which was incorporated into to the national curriculum in the mid-2000s.  Bahasa Indonesia, by contrast, was the language of education throughout the Indonesian occupation of 1975-1999.

Timor - Leste has one of the most sophisticated and progressive telecommunications markets considered in the ASIA Pacific. In view of the rapid growth in market expansion, it comes up to be the leading business sector in Timor - Leste’s national development. Such that, organizations engage with good practices for getting benefits of high business rewards and large segment of potential customers. Good practices are needed to adopt by successful operator since new liberalization of Telecommunication Industry in Timor – Leste, Telkomcel and Telemor with just fully operate in 2013, which are able to create new knowledge and further transferred and fully utilized within the telecommunication sector. Shared understanding of good knowledge gradually becomes the main perspective in business culture. By referring to the real case study of KM application in the telecommunication industry, able to examine how the management tools drive the entire business processes with effective KM strategies and resources allocation. With best practices located through 2 years of observation, discussion with professional, some related articles was publish in blog, and case study review, provided with important information for a comprehensive investigation.

TIMOR-LESTE (also called EAST TIMOR)

TP - 1,201,542 population (2014) - Area: 14,604 sq km

Capital city: Dili - population 234,331 (2010)

13,217 Internet users on Dec 31, 2013, 1.1% penetration, per ITU.

On the other hand, having professional experiences from field observation, Case Study concentration on the development of the KM strategies in the telecommunication industry in Timor - Leste.

In the meantime, throughout this most difficult of political periods, the country’s telecommunications sector has been expanding with the mobile telephone sector experiencing a particularly strong and sustained surge. After recording huge annual growth rates over a number of years from 2006 onwards, by the start of 2014 the country’s mobile subscriber base had increased rapidly in a short period of time and penetration was close to the 60% mark. Fixed-line network expansion was continuing to languish, however, with fixed teledensity down around 0.3% and seemingly stuck there. Although it was difficult to get accurate figures on the internet market, it was clear that growth in this sector remained highly constricted and there was little optimism about online activity in Timor – Leste in the short term. Whilst there was a limited fixed broadband service in the country, the number of subscribers for this type of access remained extremely low. The advent of mobile broadband internet access provided a boost to the internet sector; however, again, the initial penetration figures were not having a major impact on the market.

Liberalization of the Telecom Sector and the Birth of a New Regulatory Authority.

While this case study was conduct, Timor-Leste’s telecom sector was undergoing the most dramatic policy and regulatory transition in its history. The Timorese government has implemented its policy of liberalizing the telecommunications sector, ending the exclusive rights of Timor Telecom. This change has attracted the interest of the regional telecommunications industry, suggesting that in the future a more competitive industry will emerge.

Under the Telecommunications Decree-law no. 15/2012 of 28 March 2012, the Autoridade Nacional de Comunicações (ANC) replaces ARCOM. This is more than a name change. The ANC will take on greater responsibilities, including: overseeing registration of service providers; granting radio spectrum licenses; monitoring compliance with legislation, regulations and licenses; regulating interconnection, competition and consumer protection; resolving disputes among and between operators and service providers; and allocating, assigning and supervising the use of radio spectrum and numbering, among other responsibilities (TLTL, 2012d).

Timor-Leste has begun preparations for the new regulator, including its design, funding and staffing. The ANC will be funded mainly from license and other fees from telecommunications service providers. It will be accountable for its budget and required to report annually to the Council of Ministers on its activities and finances. Appointments to the ANC’s board (made by the Minister upon approval of the Council of Ministers) should ensure ANC’s independence from political influence in executing its statutory powers and responsibilities.

Whether and to what degree this goal will be achieved remains to be seen. Board member terms will be staggered to ensure continuity. As of April 2012, vacancies had been advertised for senior management positions at ANC (TLTL, 2012d).

As of November 2012 no ANC Board or staff appointments had been made. The Government is currently discussing the engagement of external specialists (regulatory specialist, organizational specialist) to provide technical support to the ANC on a transitional basis, to be financed by AusAID bilateral resources.

The national telecommunications policy offers further guidance to encourage competition, consumer protection and infrastructure sharing.

The government will interfere minimally in the market, allowing market forces to drive the sector towards higher efficiency, lower prices, greater responsiveness to user needs and better quality services. Licenses will be required for the provision of different telecommunications services, and a new license will be granted to Timor Telecom to replace the existing concession. In the future, the Government will be barred from intervening in pricing, except to review prices in the event of market failures. The new telecommunications legislation also addresses interconnection, and may require operators to publish reference interconnection offers (TLTL, 2012d).

East Timor’s liberalization of its telecom sector has come about rather rapidly. Two new operators were licensed in July 2012 and were set to join Portugal Telecom’s subsidiary Timor Telecom (TT), which won a tender in 2002 to build the tiny nation’s telecom infrastructure virtually from nothing. It had initially been granted an exclusive licence in the market until 2017. In March 2012, however, an agreement was reached between the government and TT to end its monopoly earlier than planned. A tender was subsequently launched for two mobile licences. By 2013 the two new operators had launched their respective mobile offerings and the market was rapidly changing shape on the back of competition.

Timor Leste finally became a member of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) a few years ago. While the ITU does provide some statistical information on this market, it has continued to be a difficult task to obtain official statistics for the country’s telecom sector. Where official statistics are not available, BuddeComm has attempted to provide estimates.

Market highlights:

• after surging in the 2008/2009 period, the East Timor mobile market grew by around 30% in both 2010 and 2011;
• however, total mobile subscriber growth was ‘flat’ in 2012, ahead of the licensing and launch of two new operators;
• the Timor Telecom monopoly had officially ended in April 2012 and the two new operators were licensed in July 2012;
• in the newly competitive market, mobile subscriber numbers had reached an estimated 700,000 coming into 2014;
• in sharp contrast with the mobile market, both fixed-line subscriptions and internet usage in its various forms remained especially low, with only modest growth likely in the short term;
• on the broader national front, the country’s recent history of political and civil unrest continued to cause some uncertainty and predictions for development were guarded;
• nevertheless, on a broader front progress was being made: the country was a poor number 20 in the world in the rankings provided by the 2009 Index of Failed States; it has subsequently managed a major jump up the rankings to come in at number 32 in the 2013 index;
• The government was also in the process of setting up a new independent regulatory authority for the sector.

East Timor – key telecom parameters – 2012 - 2014

Category	2012	2013 (e)	2014 (e)
Fixed-line services:
Fixed-line penetration (population)	0.3%	0.3%	0.3%
Internet:
Fixed internet subscriber penetration (population)	0.10%	0.12%	0.14%
Fixed internet subscriber penetration (household)	0.5%	0.6%	0.7%
Mobile services:
Mobile penetration (population)	52%	58%	63%

(Source: BuddeComm)

This report provides an overview of the trends and developments in the telecommunications markets in Timor Leste. Subjects covered include:

• Key statistics;
• Market and industry overviews;
• Regulatory environment;
• Infrastructure;
• Mobile market;
• Internet market.

As for further analysis of the strength and weakness of the KM implementation in Telecommunication Industry, I provide with related recommendation for improvement as well as the future prospectus for KM development in the industry in Timor - Leste.

1.1 Role of Knowledge Management in the Telecommunication Industry

Telecommunications Industry in Timor - Leste has taken up a long development history in Timor - Leste’s economy. Generally it is directly responsible for the growth of the service sector in the community since the liberalization of telecommunication industry. With state-of-the-art IT infrastructure and excellence network built, telecommunication industry demonstrates its true worth to the Timor - Leste society.

Since 2012, telecommunication market in Timor - Leste is open for competition. Following the new renewal of contract with Timor Telecom the Timor Telecom monopoly had officially ended in April 2012 and the two new operators were licensed in July 2012; and new decree law of 2012 liberalization of telecommunication industry, the other two companies (Telkomcel subsidiary from PT Telkom International and Telemor subsidiary from Viettel were licensed to provide local fixed telecommunication services on a competitive basis. Such that, a high range of quality telecommunication services are available in the market at reasonable costs. As to maintain excellent service and to survive in the competitive market, individual organization has developed a systematic approach leading to the achievement of ultimate business goals.

2.1.1 Serve as important business intelligence

Telecommunication industry is often described as the “Sunset industry” for the reason that of rapid growth in product innovation and technology development. Information transfer circulates around the market speedily which uphold most of the input for business activities and operational processes. In the competitive marketplace, business organizations have to keep updated with the global trend and current status about telecommunications in order to lead a significant position among competitors.

In view of the business structure, telecommunications are featured with hybrid science of collaborations among people, process and technology. The key issue for business benefit is to integrate those three components with a standardized and favorable management system.

The shared knowledge system provides workers a comprehensive way to capture knowledge from individuals to the whole enterprises, so that valuable information and skillful experiences within the companies are retained. Besides, intellectual capital from workers offers as knowledge experts for business activities and future development at different aspects. When facing business conflicts and production problems, the knowledge intensive process works with the case by providing effective solutions for performance improvement. In addition, business intelligence enhances communications among departments so that co-operative team production can be more integrated with strong collaboration from different divisions. Having a high degree of accuracy and accessibility for information enables the organizations to respond more quickly upon market changes and decision-making.

1.1.2 Keep along as good practice captured

Nowadays, most developed countries pursue the global trend to engage into information society. It is a society centering the information life cycle as the main economic activities and participating with activate promote of information literacy. With the processes of creation, use, distribution, maintenance and disposal, information circulations around the cycle play a significant role for economic growth and wealth making. Telecommunications tie with the global market and master the inventive technologic advancement. On the one hand, we make contribution in technology innovation and create new information, and on the other hand, we pile up information generated and make out knowledge accumulation. Information can be easily lost if we keep it without good practice and relevant management procedures. Organizations in the telecommunication community have increasingly adapted into cultural changes upon working behaviors and business performances. At present, KM is the key factor leading to industrial success. By bringing in professional experts and consultants, workers are educated with KM practices so as to support productive procedures and further achieve business goals. After inputting KM as the major production scheme, communications among workers improve and hence the understanding between departments.

New discovery of production processes with KM concepts makes progress for business achievements.

Such knowledge is reusable which flows around in the knowledge management cycle for generating new knowledge.

1.1.3 Manage relationships with key customers

In the telecommunication market, people are the core aspect in knowledge management application, from integrating numerous informative transactions to generating innovative business knowledge. For an ordinary telecommunication company, typically sales people work at the frontline in the business production and deal with customers providing high-quality services and in return, getting numerous business transactions. This kind of business production pattern depends heavily on the people issue and that the skills bearing from the sales persons place influences on the production progress and achievement.

By the means of knowledge management, information is handled and stored with appropriate classifications so that it can easily be retrieved and transferred regarding different needs urged from workers. In the past, workers had to search out the information in persons and such cases really tool up a long time and even a high cost for business operations. Further, it hindered the processes of transacting customer orders to be followed and managed. In order to improve the productivity level in entire operation process, organizations get started with knowledge development and intend to maintain good relationships with their potential customers. Large amount of customer information shows a majority in business production resources.

With effective handling procedure and organization support, knowledge-intensive process retains the important customer information as well as the consumption pattern as the indication for making strategic business decisions and future development goals.

1.1.4 Build up as valuable organization assets

The emergence of the knowledge management locates as the chief execution in organization assets and knowledge repositories within the telecommunication market.

It is the main objective to capture the human capital into explicit knowledge and to be understandable and long lasting. Among the telecommunication organizations, it is true that dynamic changes in workforce show a positive percentage compared with other industry. Workers in the telecommunication market get a high tendency to shift employment from one company to another, which indicate the possibility of human capital being carried away since staff resign and leave the companies. To maintain sufficient human resources and build up informative support for business production, KM gives out contribution making up company’s own knowledge base by turning implicit knowledge into explicit knowledge. Accumulated

KM strategies tend to be reusable and serve as the organization assets. KM implementation ties with organization objectives and integrates with different communities of practices among knowledge experts from various divisions in the companies. Shared knowledge and business intelligence bring in the most valuable resources for improved business performance and competitive advantages against competitors in the market. The practice of KM focuses on the management of specific knowledge gained from different organizational experts, and also addresses the development and cultivation of the channels through which knowledge would flow along with. By understanding he regular functions of the KM cycle, organizations can streamline business process for co-operating with different related sectors of the market.

2. Literature Review

Before we look into the details of the case study I have done, I will first give a general introduction of knowledge management by introducing the definitions of KM.

What is Knowledge Management?

Knowledge is not a new issue nowadays and many KM expertise have made excellent definitions to “What is KM”.

The most well-known definition that we are familiar with is coined by one of the famous KM experts – Karl Wiig.

Wiig (1997) said that “KM is the systematic, explicit, deliberate building, renewal, and application of knowledge to maximize an enterprise’s knowledge-related effectiveness and returns from its knowledge assets”. Knowledge management is defined differently in varied organizations.

Malhotra (1998) made a new definition of KM in the new business world – “Knowledge Management caters to the critical issues of organizational adoption, survival and competence in face of increasingly discontinuous environmental change. Essentially, it embodies organizational processes that seek synergistic combination of data and information processing capacity of information technologies, and the creative and innovative capacity of human beings.”

This new definition of KM tries to go beyond the urgent solutions or uni-dimensional views offered by many others.

It also intends to move the thinking of organizations’ executives towards the strategic, non-linear and systemic view of KM. Malhotra also discovered that there is always confusion between “knowledge” and “information” in the new business world. Knowledge and information are distinct entities. Those “dictated norms” generated by the computer systems is not a very accurate carrier of human interpretation for potential action, users usually cannot find the “knowledge” they really want. This confusion between `knowledge' and `information' has caused managers to spend large amount of money in technology ventures that have yielded marginal results.

Although there are so many definitions on KM, they all have something in common. They are all concern about two dimensions of People and Knowledge. KM lies in the relationship between these two dimensions, mediated by various systems and processes. It is generally seen as “a comprehensive approach which recognizes the interdependency for the organizational effectiveness of people, the technology, the systems and processes within which they use it.” (Brelade, 2003) After introducing the core concept KM, we will now move to focus on the industrial background my study object lies in – telecommunication industry in Timor - Leste.

2.1 Knowledge Management in Telecommunication Industry

Knowledge management is critical to all kinds of industry which can help the organizations to consider how to capture the knowledge resident in the organization. Especially for the telecommunications industry in which its operation rely on hundreds of knowledge workers in Timor - Leste, it is important for them to communicate and share their knowledge. Therefore, telecom companies nowadays are willing to make investments to capture as much knowledge as possible from their most experienced workers. Many large telecommunications service provides start to create a senior-level management position to ensure that KM activities operate effectively. According to Strouse (2001), large telecom companies such as British Telecom, AT&T, and Deutsche Telecom have created chief knowledge officer positions, it shows the fact that the telecommunications industry believe that intellectual assets have value.

Strouse (2001) has also stated several components that are important to an effective KM system in telecommunications industry.

1. IT supports needs to be adequate in both scale and communications response time.

2. Database should include user-friendly search capabilities.

3. Tools in the search engine need to pinpoint the proper information when requested.

4. Processes need to support the facilitation of information retrieval and must be in place to assist in the creation of new information.

5. System performance metrics should be maintained in order to help to determine the criteria for new data to enter the system.

6. Type of data to be available must pass tests defined in the design phase, it should be limited to information that will increase the performance of employees or improve the customer’s experience.

7. Effective incentives and supportive core values should be encouraged to the most expert employees to share their knowledge.

People also always argue that the benefits of knowledge management systems appear to be too theoretical to measure; the following is an example of returns from implementing

KM in telecommunication industry. Quantification of benefits is most obvious in customer service sectors such as sales and customer support department. For example, a customer service center could use a knowledge management system to help service representatives to identify the source of problems by listing troubleshooting measures that were successful in the past. Therefore, more problems are resolved with a single call in customer service centers. Telecommunications service providers have used KM systems to increase their sales productivity.

Sales representatives tend to specialize in those services that they have sold successfully in the past. KM systems can assist to increase sales by providing information about services with which the sales representative is less familiar with.

2.2 Knowledge Management Tools and Strategies in Telecommunications Industry

US West (Lewis-Chan, 1998)

Firstly, I will examine how the telecoms giants – US West reacted to knowledge challenge: the majority of its 47,000 employees will be eligible to retire in the year 2002 taking the bulk of the knowledge in the organization with them. I will also look at what suggestions that the Global Village Labs (GVL) has given.

Before planning the details of KM solutions, GVL have set some business goals:

1. Work within a time frame. Try to complete all projects within three months.

2. Deliver 10x on every project—a $10 million bottom line return for every $one million spent. Accordingly, every project must have a clear business purpose and the measures to show it has been delivered. Rather than only looking at the literal requirements, the group tries to work with its internal clients to determine what the systemic effects might be.

3. Reject projects that have no chance of succeeding and no clear business value. Major problems existed in US West and GVL’s solutions:

1. GVL discovered that there was a backlog, an enormous amount of errors and rework, and lost revenue due to lost customers. Solution: GVL team started to pool and codifies the needed knowledge. They turned it into a corporate asset, and distributed the new ordering tool via the intranet.

2. Local knowledge of US West was stored in numerous systems. This resulted in unfulfilled orders and incomplete information leading to missed commitments. Solution: The data was pooled and access was given across the system, providing completeness and corroboration.

Again, the tool was distributed across the intranet. Users were motivated because the system was easy to use. Missed commitments were reduced dramatically.

3. The 65 agents assigned to the helpdesk provide assistance on 130 applications across the company, responding to about 40,000 calls per month. Traditionally, calls were assigned to people who were experts on the specific application with the problem; they wanted to capture the expertise to solve these problems in a system so that more people could have access to it. Solution: GVL chose a Web-based Inference product to build the system on. It converted personal knowledge into a corporate asset. Statistics are recorded on which cases are most frequently invoked. This enables identification and elimination of the root cause of the problem.

ORANGE (Minogue-White, 2006)

Secondly, I will then look into what work have been done across the KM at a well-known international telecom company – Orange Orange’s strategies to implement KM: Orange emphasize on the training and learning of staff appropriately within their multinational, highly complex, knowledge based organization.

They want all their employees to be competent in which they aim to learn from experience on how to improve working practices, how to excel at them and how to pass learning on. The KM team in Orange had to look at the way in which training can best adapt to and support rapid changing needs. Orange’s story is an excellent example to reflect how to bring the disciplines of KM, training and HR together in a knowledge community, so that the organization can be more flexible and timely in meeting changing needs and build capability for continuous improvement. What KM team in Orange has done? The Orange KM team had uncovered a wealth of good practice and innovative learning techniques. They share the techniques with all training professionals at other countries and provide a channel for others to access.

Orange also makes use of the knowledge communities like joining forum to share professional techniques. In early stage, such events concentrated primarily on getting to know each other through understanding current challenges, budget issues, key knowledge areas and the range of learning techniques employed. But now, much exchange and sharing of approaches and resources occurred; it gives the members access to training and workshop materials throughout the group. Orange have developed large amount of relevant context and materials, therefore, members can take these materials and add this to their training portfolio at a greatly reduced cost.

British Telecom (Auckland, 1999)

Lastly, we will examine the KM challenge that British Telecom (BT) faced and how they combated the challenge.

The challenge that BT faced is that they find difficult to retain the discipline of customer focus while developing rich and extensive knowledge sharing. The team recognized that the lack of knowledge-sharing was inhibiting the business. They also found that learning from other sectors’ previous projects, experience and expertise could speed up new projects. Through the mass customization strategy, innovative new products and solutions could be created.

Strategy 1: Top down Communication. They inform the employee on strategy, business performance and market knowledge via internal conferences and intranet sites.

They also changed the design of the corporate scorecard to align with the new strategy. To encourage the knowledge-sharing, they increased the reward given to sector managers for achieving organizational goals.

Strategy 2: Targeting Critical Communities. The KM initiative team in BT would target those communities relating to their industry and working in partnership with them, such as develop, implement and measure the right knowledge strategies, tools and techniques to enhance the value proposition to the business. They also work closely with several other business units within BT and establish networking with knowledge practitioners in other major corporations so as to ensure they learned from others and brought in the right help as required.

2.3 Problems have been solved by employing KM practices

“Knowledge management aims to exploit an organization’s information for greater productivity, new value and increased competitiveness, and also to encourage the exchange of tacit knowledge.” (Davies, 2000) The performances of an organization will be affected by the effectiveness of the knowledge management practices.

“Knowledge management (KM) must be applied in the right place at the right time. “(Coleman, 1998) It is more efficient in the daily operations of an organization if the people can get the right information in the right time. In fact, it is difficult to create successful knowledge management networks. It “requires skilled managers that master social processes and that understand how people learn and share knowledge. The limited empirical knowledge on how knowledge networks are set up in high-tech organizations may result that issues and problems encountered during the set up process become overwhelming.

If the problems are not tackled properly the outcome will be unsuccessful knowledge networks which only consume financial resources and undermine the trust for management.”

(Schönström, 2005) “One KM solution is an extranet that supports the sharing of knowledge between departments and a client.” (Coleman, 1998) By using the extranet, the client can post the messages and comment the performances of an organization through the website of an organization. Also, the department can have a better understanding of the clients’ needs in order to provide the better services.

2.4 Future trends of Knowledge Management in Telecommunication Industry

Nowadays, the telecommunication industries will bring together “the disciplines of knowledge management, training and HR in a knowledge community enabled the organization to become more flexible and timely in meeting changing needs and build capability for continuous improvement.” (Minogue-White, 2006) In order to meet the changing needs in the market, the telecommunication industries will employ the KM practices as an element of training. Thus, the staff in an organization can have the deeper understanding in the concepts of the KM practices. Also, the concept of communities of practice (CoP) is also encouraged in the telecommunication industries.

The groups of people can share the ideas and knowledge in order to put the duplication of effort on the same incident. Besides, not only the formal groups of people can share the ideas, the informal groups of people can also share the idea among themselves. “Knowledge communities had already proven to be a successful and popular method to share professional techniques in a number of areas (including legal, fraud and revenue assurance, security and finance).” (Minogue-White, 2006) According to Davies (2000), the challenge for organizations is to support such communities and make them effective.

Moreover, the Intranet becomes commonly used as one of the KM practice in the telecommunication industries.

Intranet plays an important role in the more effective exploitation of both explicit and tacit knowledge.

“Tacit knowledge is considered to be a vital component in innovation and product development processes.” (Nonaka and Takeuchi, 1995) It is difficult to articulate. “To transfer tacit knowledge is however difficult due to its dependence of the knower and the context where it was created.”

(Orlikowski, 2002). By using the Intranet, people can share both the explicit and tacit knowledge through the Intranet, thus the people can get the updated information easily.

3. Research Methods

Information collected and findings gathered for the study are mainly divided into two sections, observation, discussion, reports (ITU Annual Report, World Bank ICT Report, ASIA Pacific Telecommunication) and professional experiences.

Observation of three telecommunication industry existing in Timor – Leste, Timor Telecom, Telkomcel and Telemor. I have conducted an informal observation and analysis, report and discussion and value information from Timor Telecom portal and Telemor Portal.

Professional experiences in ICT and working observe telecommunication industry progress since the liberalization, basic understanding about the ordinary operation process within the telecommunication industry. I have participated in various projects and take post in responsible for improved information management system. What I have observed can be input into the case study for this study case. Besides, I hold some documentations in hand which are related to KM issues of the industry from the success telecommunication knowledge management system in the ASIA Region. Observed base on those three company profiles, there is now available strategies documents plan for telecommunication industry, not frequently available annual report published in their portal, lack of information provide by those three operator. It is considered very critical and not corporate and their commitment after the competition to publish any value information for their customer and partnership as Government Institution.

4. Case Study

In this part, I would like to present this study on the Knowledge Management development, implementation and adoption status with three telecommunication industry, Timor Telecom, Telkomcel and Telemor.

INTERNATIONAL CONNECTIVITY

The growth of Timor-Leste’s telecommunication sector is also constrained by limitations in international broadband connectivity, which is currently provided only through satellite links. Timor-Leste is far from any submarine fiber links serving the Pacific or Southeast Asian regions. Terrestrial local cables are available in Indonesia and Australia.

As at end 2012, PT Telekomunikasi Indonesia International (Telin), a subsidiary of Indonesia’s oldest and largest network operator, was planning to connect its new TL backbone to PT Telkom’s fiber backbone at Atambua, which connects to the main fiber at Kupang in West Timor. If Timor-Leste could negotiate the extension of this cable to Dili, which is located only 100km away, it would immediately enhance international connectivity and lower costs.

Resolving this bottleneck can unleash a rapid expansion in broadband use and a resulting surge in digital content creation and use. With less than one per cent of the population accessing the Internet in 2011 (around 6,000 subscribers), Timor-Leste’s online community is currently small. As connectivity improves, locally relevant online content and virtual communities can be expected to expand and proliferate. When indigenous digital content grows in Timor-Leste, it would also be prudent to evolve guidelines for aspects such as intellectual property and freedom of expression online.

With regulatory and infrastructure changes gathering pace, Timor-Leste can expect telecommunication services to become available and more accessible to more citizens in the coming decade.

Timor Telecom:

After observed, there is now business commitment and business strategies or any documents that mentioned the contribution of developing, implementing and adoption of knowledge management in the telecommunication industry. Timor Telecom before the liberation is one of the monopoly telecommunication industry in Timor – Leste since 2002 until 2012, some improvement and significant business investment in the area of internet services such as lease line, dedicated line and 3G, mobile services and fixed line services almost the whole territory, some infrastructure are covered until sub district and rural areas until 2013.  There is now progress or new investment made by Timor Telecom to improve the business market in Timor – Leste, it is likely the end of Timor Telecom competition in Timor – Leste, with the entered of economy crisis in Europe that also affected PT Telecom Portugal to resisted with their subsidiary around the African country and Timor Leste.

Official Portal of Timor Telecom:

Observing Timor Telecom portal www.timortelecom.tl is available in Multilanguage Tetum, Portuguese and English, it is almost consider more value information provide in this portal, missing some important document publication such us annual report, financial report, there is now proper management site in this portal, there is now specific knowledge management system provide in this portal. This portal at least showing the transparency of in this portal for showing the shareholder, investment activities, plan activities. Both sites are available in Multilanguage can be found in this portal. It is easy to find the value information for business services and customers services.

Figure 2 show Shareholder of Timor Telecom.

10 Years of History

Timor Telecom (TT), the Fixed and Mobile Telecommunications Network operator of Timor-Leste, was practically born from scratch after the telecommunications infrastructure of the country were destroyed in September 1999. In 2001, still under the auspices of UNTAET (UN administration), an international tender for construction of a Telecommunications system in Timor-Leste was launched under the BOT regime (Build, Operate, Transfer). In July 2002, the Timor Telecom consortium (promoted by Portugal Telecom) won the bid, and signed the respective Concession Agreement between the State of the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste and Timor Telecom. On the 17th of October the Timor Telecom consortium became official as Timor Telecom, SA – the first corporation formed in the country. On 1st of March 2003, Timor Telecom started its operations (Dili Los Palos, Baucau and Oecusse) 10 years later, Timor Telecom is a dynamic and a solid company that has surpassed various challenges and has always accompanied the Timorese people on their journey since the Restoration of Independence. Many events have since marked the history of Timor Telecom, among which are:

Milestones:

• On 17th of October 2002, after signing the Concession Contract between the State of RDTL and Timor Telecom and concluded in July 2002, Timor Telecom was born as the first public limited company and Telecommunications operator in East Timor.
• On 1st of March 2003, TT started operating in Timor-Leste with its first own network and country code (+670).
• In 2004 the telecommunications network was inaugurated on the island of Atauro.
• 2005 - Opened stores in Maliana, Suai and Oecusse.
• In 2006 about 50 thousand customers already had access to mobile services. Also the first phonebook in the country was published.
• In 2007 it launched the voice mail service and publication of TL Yellow Pages.
• In 2008, TT reached 125 thousand clients in mobile network and by the end of the year the first 1USD recharge card.
• In 2009 TT launched the internet Net Boot service and the new and intelligent network telecommunications service platform arrived in Timor-Leste.
• 2010 was marked by the launching of the new logo (Toke) and also by the implementation of the fibre-optic network in Dili.
• In 2011 enters service hundredth the BTS or site service from the mobile network.
• 2012 signed the agreement between the State of Timor-Leste and Timor Telecom for the early end of the concession contract signed in 2002.
• In 2013 TT opened a new Call Centre and completed its project of renovation of all TT stores in the country. 2013 is also marked by the introduction of three totally new plans: Toke Livre, Viva and Diak.
• 2014 was dedicated to the development of technologies in Timor Telecom. TT implemented a new internet concept with which it significantly expanded the bandwidth, speed and quality of this service.

The investment in the information society in East-Timor

Since its birth, the TT has invested about USD 103 million in the development of telecommunication infrastructures, having demonstrated over these 10 years that it is at the forefront of technologies, adapting them to the needs of its customers. All this effort is reflected quantitatively by the following numbers:

• Number of customers - 632,500 mobile network and internet
• Population coverage - about 92% are covered with mobile network and internet
• Number of sites operating in 2G and 3G - 139 (2G) and 64 (3G)
• JRC's (Internet Community Center) - 40 already installed in partnership with religious institutions, national entrepreneurs, the National Youth Council of Timor-Leste.
• In addition to the CCIs, Timor Telecom, as part of its social responsibility policy, has sponsored free internet in various organizations such as the presidency, the UNTL, UNPAZ, IOB, Department of Youth Catholic Diocese of Dili and Baucau, STAE, CNE, Vocational Training Centre St. Peter Comoro, the Vision Youth Foundation of East Timor and the Foundation Ahisaun and maintains a Cooperation Protocol with the Resistance Museum Archive.

The social commitment of Timor-Leste:

Timor Telecom is a company committed to society development in its various dimensions. As such, Timor Telecom has supported various initiatives such as the publication of books or Timorese authors or about Timor-Leste, artistic and cultural activities, sports activities, social and humanitarian activities, including the Tour de Timor, Festival Ramelau, International Fishing in Atauro and Com, Dili City of Peace Marathon, among others.

From 2002–2010, Timor Telecom invested over $75 million in the establishment and modernization of its network. It also launched new services such as credit transfer and roaming (ITU, 2011). The largest Timorese company by capital, Timor Telecom employs a few hundred staff (Timor Telecom, 2012). Figure 3 shows the company’s growth over the last six years.

Figure 3: Timor Telecom financial performance and cellular penetration.

Source: www.telecom.pt.

Telkomcel:

After observed during 2 year of effective operation of Telkomcel Timor – Leste, there is no specific information and document presented in the portal regard to the developing, implementation and adoption of Knowledge Management System in telecommunication industry, lack of information provide during the first investment infrastructure and system implementation during 2 years, some news and report are gathering from outside of Telkomcel website, source from PT Telkom International Indonesia. There is weakness of knowledge share information from Telkomcel portal itself, its meaning that there is almost now commitment of protecting the right of customers and clients to access the telecommunication services such as internet access, mobile services, sms services. This study of observing the most important crucial information and practice of knowledge management system is almost empty. It is important to the management of Telkomcel to consider the important of developing, implementation and adoption of knowledge management in telecommunication industry in Timor – Leste, to gain the satisfaction and business progress in the area of telecommunication industry in Timor Leste.

Telkomcel Portal:

Telkomcel portal www.telkomcel.tl, after observing Telkomcel portal, I was found there is important to Telkomcel to provide and review their website for better understanding of contribute information society and business information in Timor Leste. Weakness of customer services access provide in portal, there is now proper site for customer to give their suggestion and claim and feedback information from the portal. There is now transparency in management site, to showing the organization structure in this company, It seems that this portal provide Multilanguage interface, Bahasa, English and Tetum, some link in Tetum contents still in English, and also in Bahasa, there is no up to date information provide in this portal.
 

At least this portal showing the shareholder information, no investment information available, plan activities what had been done and what still in progress and future plan. News site is available in this portal. There is a link for Career, but no information available to specify what is inside the career. Such as jobs opportunities ect. There is no information relate to sustainability information available in this site, this is very consider very important for transparency process to publish, guideline of customer service, procedure and policy management, there is no documents available in this site for contract or any legal issue to assign with this services provide to the customers. There is no available graphic information showing the growth of investment and return of investment during the 2 years of operation in Timor – Leste.

Telemor:

There is no information available exist for this company, I had been observed in Telemor portal www.telemor.tl is available in Multilanguage English and Tetum, searching from google to find more information available about Telemor, but unlucky there is no information provide in this company, the third company telecommunication industry in Timor – Leste, based in Vietnam, Subsidiary from Viettel telecommunication. Since the existing of this operator in 2012 and first investment made in 2013, some construction infrastructure such as BTS and Fiber Optic connection investment are made significantly to cover the mobile service and 3G mobile service around the territory. 

Showing Picture 1 of Telemor portal.

After observed during 2 year of effective operation of Telemor, no specific information and document presented in this portal related to the developing, implementation and adoption of Knowledge Management System in telecommunication industry, lack of information provide during the first investment infrastructure and system implementation during 2 years, none existing  news and report available in this portal. There is weakness of knowledge share information from Telemor portal, considered very poor portal compare with small enterprise portal existing in Timor - Leste, its meaning that there is almost now commitment of protecting the right of customers and clients to access the telecommunication services such as internet access, mobile services, s services. This study of observing the most important crucial information and practice of knowledge management system is almost empty. It is important to the management of Telemor to consider the important of developing, implementation and adoption of knowledge management in telecommunication industry in Timor – Leste, to gain the satisfaction and business progress in the area of telecommunication industry in Timor Leste. None existed financial report, Annual Report and Telemor Organisation Management and Shareholder Information available in this portal.

4.1 Purpose of KM implementation in Telecommunication Industry

Competition was introduced by Timor -Leste government in telecommunication industry in 2012, to instead of Timor Telecom monopoly service provider for almost 10 years of services. Each of the new entrants Telkomcel and Telemor can build their own network to provide new service at highly competitive prices. It is a great challenge for all the telecommunication companies to sustain and increase their market share for the dynamic changes.

4.2 Knowledge Management Cycle

Following a unique designed KM cycle, organization takes advantage to motivate business performance and streamline production process. Intellectual capital is first captured among workers which then turn into common practice and company expertise. With growing knowledge base such as database system or portal network, captured knowledge is stored properly with various classifications and then further shared within the organization.

Every department in the company has its own knowledge base and experts. With better communication between departments, collaboration can be more easily carried out for large business projects and knowledge from different experts can suit for different needs derived from various business events. After that, knowledge generated will be documented, making the tacit knowledge and know-how of experts to be available to each other through KM education in the company. Knowledge harvesting is an approach allowing a wider use of existing knowledge to a much wider range of people. Capable case study of KM practice in the company will be codified as best practice showing around at the portal network and KM system.

Once particular project was completed, the KM facilitator conducted interviews to review evaluation and measure the usefulness of knowledge being codified. Lastly a knowledge pool is formed through accumulation of critical knowledge.

4.3 Knowledge Management Tools and Applications

Telecom Operators use a wide range of tools in knowledge acquisition, codification and dissemination. Technology is used in order to meet the needs of communication, collaboration, learning and navigation. For example, Microsoft Word Processing is commonly used to create content, Microsoft Project is used to monitor project schedule, and XMLbased protocol is used for communication networks. Ultimately, Telecom Operators use Portal as a means of KM platform.

The Portal has enabled the customers, clients partnership, organization management to access internet service, mobile services, sms services fixe line ect, customer discussion forum, E-learning, Subscription Alert, servicesdesk support system, Taxonomy Yellow Page and other functions.

The Best Practice would be formulated where more than 10 projects have been completed under the same subject, which is determined as the most efficient way to provide business solution by line manager in each discipline.

When a new or less experienced staff dealt with the similar project, they can locate The Best Practice to find the method and solution for reference. If only a few projects have done before, the portal also provides Lesson Learned from previous works. If the project has not been encountered at all, staff still could locate Yellow Page to contact the experts for advices. Discussion Forum is used for post questions and responses. The staff was able to post his request on any technical or managerial issues; any other colleague could suggest possible solution in forum.

Moreover, the staff could call a weekend gathering in forum, to count the people for entertainment booking.

The frequent interaction among customer, clients and telecom staff has encouraged the trusted and friendly relationship in the organization.

E-learning is used for teaching sessions under different disciplines, e.g. new sales training, new product presentation or new service demonstration. Every staff can download the teaching material to acquire primary knowledge on their own. This self-directed function let staff arrange learning plan according to individual schedule, to save the cost to held physical session once and once again.

Subscription Alert is a kind of personalized assistance to deploy the information to staff account after setting preference.

Once there was new knowledge released under the subscripted discipline, staff could receive the alert to locate the contents at the earliest. E-mail is designed to compose and send the message among staff, and attach the files with a message. Furthermore, Group Calendar allows the staff to schedule their meetings, and detect if meeting times conflict occurred.

To satisfy customer’s need with better services by building the fiber optic network solution across the country. Nowadays, Telemor is the largest “fiber optic connectivity offered connection between BTS”, and secondly Timor Telecom also provide internet service to customers through fiber optic solution in telecommunications network in Timor - Leste. With the growing scope of services provided and the dealing with several hundred of customers, sharing of knowledge is being concerned. And the KM concept penetrates among those three telecommunication industry in recent year since 2013 is transferred to this organization. The first department that KM need to develop, implement and adoption is Sale and Marketing Department.

Sale and Marketing Department is divided into several divisions, such as Product Development division and Logistics & Business Intelligence support division. They work together to promote and operate of the local communication services including IDD, Internet Broadband and Voice. Therefore, each division within the department is closely co-related. I strongly believed that efficient flow of knowledge sharing could enhance the daily business process and also providing a better quality service to customers.

4.4 Knowledge Management Pilot Project

Though there is a strong initiative on introducing KM into Telecommunication Industry, large investment is need to develop, implementing and adoption of KM. Therefore, it is important to prove the success of the KM to Top Management by starting the KM application in the Sale and Marketing Department. He state that each unit in Telecommunication Industry actually already had its own function KM, but there is a lack of integrated strategy of an enterprise-wide KM, which is an extra-ordinary KM based each portal provide. Referring to his explanation, ordinary KM means each units just satisfy their own immediate information need. Actually, those information could be pooled and share among whole organization in order to shorten the business process time. He thinks this is a common situation and obstacle faced that newly KM developing organization may face. Therefore, In this study case present to change the pattern of existing culture of knowledge transformation. This Study case suggest that to develop a trust and willing to share relationship among employees.

A software called “let’s share” and “e-learning” platform are introduced with his aims. Detailed of the software and platform will be discuss in following part. Also, suggestion of building a comprehensive data mining system is in processes. This system could systematize and synchronize whole department selling information and thus could generate an immediate, accurate and updated report upon manager’s request. In the field of telecommunication activities, the best use of advanced information technology has become the major contribution to the great turnover and huge information flow among the organizations.

Accurate and efficient information dissemination is the essential factor in developing global markets against all kinds of competitors.

4.5 Knowledge Management Tools and Applications

As mentioned above, “Let’s Share” software is introduced to promote the knowledge sharing among employees. It is a collaboration tool. It enhances the communication and information sharing among employees. For example, people share on the same desktop view or presentation materials simultaneously though they are located at disparate area. They can co-operate to edit on the same document/power-point slide at the same time and thus enhance the knowledge sharing. With the “Share File” function of this KM, sharing computer file are no longer limited by the means (E-mail, Compact Disc) and also not limited by the time (Using MSN Messenger, ICQ as transferring tools, then wait for the receiver online). People are sharing the information at anytime, anywhere.

Thus, a stronger and closer relationship built. It is assumed that the uses of the “Let’s Share” could facilitate the communication among employees and also change the existing culture of knowledge transformation.

In additions to the “Let’s Share” software, an “ELearning” platform is also introduced. This is particular useful for training despite the time and place the staff want to learn about the product. The “E-Learning” platform captures the existing knowledge (i.e. Product concept, selling script and demonstration), codify and make them be available to all potential users. This self-learning concept is endorsed so as to shorten the problem-solving process and save the company resources ultimately.

5. Findings & Analysis of the Case Study

By reviewing the case study of Telecommunication Industry, I understand more about the real practice on implementing KM Information System into organization. And thus several success factors for KM practice are generated and some improvement need to achieve for corporate telecommunication industry business.

5.1 Success factor of Knowledge Management

5.1.1 Bring abstract to practical

At present, KM Information System is a new and quite abstract concept in Timor Leste commercial society, which could raise confuses within the organization. As existing business firm has operated its enterprise under a long-established working culture. Workers have already adapted to the traditional management style and business environment.

Therefore, it is hard for them to accept the emergence of new KM management. From that case, I suggest not to take the name of KM Information System into account, rather than regarding it as part of general management.

To promote KM Information System into the business operations, the senior management should be the first group to believe that KM could bring benefits to the company. Without a firm faith and strong belief of KM Information System success, it is definitely a barrier leading to business failure. All the senior managers should have the common goals and get the same consensus into the KM Information System implementation. After that, the firm can hold different seminars and learning talks to promote KM Information System. By means of different stages or phases, KM Information System concept is progressively promoted to different divisions or departments within the organization. Once the whole organization became familiar with the KM procedure and system, the KM concept can be introduced gradually in width and depth then in KM practice.

According to Davies (2000), the challenge for organizations is to support knowledge communities and make them effective. To deal with this issue, ‘Let’s Share” and “E-Learning” platform are introduce to telecommunication industry mostly important, with the support of communities of practice (CoP) concept. Effective incentives and supportive core values should be encouraged to the most expert employees to share their knowledge (Strouse, 2001). CoP is encouraged in the telecommunication industries in the future KM development trend. I believe that the usefulness of informal knowledge sharing have the same weight with formal sharing. Instead of forcing people to share their knowledge with each other, the informal way could prevent the large resistance from employees. Encouraging the knowledge sharing informally enables the groups of people easily absorb and accept the idea of sharing their knowledge voluntarily in order to put the duplication of effort on the same incident.

5.1.2 Patience, Passion and Persistence of Management

Patience and persistence is the key for a successful KM practice. From the telecommunication industry case, it shows us the facts that KM will not promise an immediate financial return.

Therefore the patience of senior level of Management is critical. The most failed KM projects are quitted within the first year. No matter what reason caused the failure, it would be far more difficult to re-start the project in the coming years. Therefore, a small scale of pilot project can be implemented on a trial basis. Once the experiment is successful, KM manager can convince the senior level of management to finance and support the KM project.

Also, passion for KM practice can drive the KM project to achieve the result. It takes long time to see the achievement.

Multidisciplinary nature of KM brings a challenge for the KM facilitators, who need devote themselves in varied field such as cognitive science, sociology and information technology. Lack of passion, the KM practice would easily cease on any obstacles encountered. On the other hand, the more people participation in KM practice, the more value KM can generate. That is why most KM application adopted in the big firms, since small sized enterprise can share the experiences in more informal way.

6.1.3 Develop the Knowledge Share culture

Corporate cultural can either courage or discourage knowledge sharing. In this observation study case, I gave two examples from the observation experience. One is to do with a non-profit institution, in which most staffs were serving as social workers for various volunteer communities.

Those staff truly took pleasure to share their knowledge, but reluctant to be rated as the best practice. Another case referred his current working field, where staffs have striven for the best performance, but possessing concern to share their knowledge. Hence, the need for building knowledge sharing culture shows the extreme importance in KM practice.

6. Conclusions

Learning from the real case study, literature and KM text books, maintaining the continuity sustainability of Knowledge management is a long term task. It is concluded the successes of a KM project in organization are depends on the involvement and contribution of all the parties, especially strong initiative and passionate Top Management. The inter-related characteristics of KM create the complexity on real world practice. In order to develop an Enterprise-wide KM, an integrated view must be adopted. Not only should the theoretical and technology aspects be pay attention to, but also the cultural adoption and education among the participants (i.e. staffs within the department and whole organization). It is also importance telecommunication industry operate in Timor – Leste to develop, implement and adoption of KM Information System in their business and also will be benefit for customer services.

7. References

1.     Timor Telecom, www.timortelecom.tl

2.     Telkomcel, www.telkomcel.tl

3.     Telemor, www.telemor

4.     Auckland, Marc. (1999). COMPETING THROUGH KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge Management Review, 1(6), 2-6.

5.     Brelade, S. & Harman, C. (2003). A Practical Guide to Knowledge Management: A Special Commissioned Report. London: Thorogood Professional Insights.

6.     Coleman, D. (1998). Taking the best approach to knowledge management. Computer Reseller News, 791, 111-112.

7.     Davies, N J. (2000). Knowledge Management. BT Technology Journal, 62.

8.     Nonaka, I (1991) Harvard Business Review. The Knowledge creating company, 6 (8), 96-104.

9.     Strouse, Karen G. (2001). Strategies for Success in the New Telecommunications Marketplace. Boston: Artech House Telecommunications Library.

10.  Knowledge Management Cases in Asia/Knowledge Management Practice in Telecommunication Industry Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Knowledge%20Management%20Cases%20in%20Asia/Knowledge%20Management%20Practice% 20in%20Telecommunication%20Industry?oldid=1846757 Contributors: Swift, Adrignola and Anonymous: 1

11.  ITU 2013 Report. www.itu.org

12.  Asia Pacific Telecommunication Report, http://www.internetworldstats.com/stats3.htm

13.  ARCOM: Autoridade Reguladora das Communicações (2008) ARCOM Public Opinion Survey in Telecommunication Development.Retrieved June 15, 2012 from http://www.docstoc.com/docs/30807032/ARCOM-Public-Opinion-Survey-In-Telecommunication-Development-W-hat

Source:

1.     Knowledge Management Cases in Asia/Knowledge Management Practice in Telecommunication Industry Source: http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Knowledge%20Management%20Cases%20in%20Asia/Knowledge%20Management%20Practice% 20in%20Telecommunication%20Industry?oldid=1846757 Contributors: Swift, Adrignola and Anonymous: 1

2.     Timor Telecom Portal, www.timortelecom.tl

3.     Telkomcel Portal, www.telkomcel.tl

4.     Telemor Portal, www.telemor.tl

5.     Infodev, www.infodev.org, The role of Information and Communication Technology in Post-Conflict Timor – Leste.