The report covers a critical evaluation of the development of the 5G network project undertaken by Telstra Corporation in Australia. Telstra is a leading telecommunications company and conducts many projects under the Capability Planning & Delivery (CP&D) project management office (PMO). The technological sector is a constantly changing aspect of modern life, and project managers at Telstra seek to establish how the new technologies or solutions are essential to the company. Once the experts identify the project to be implemented, the 5G network connectivity, the next undertaking involves a three-step process of further scrutinizing the undertaking through validation, exploration, and realization.
Telstra’s 5G network implementation has been conducted in a broader program to improve network connectivity and customer experience. The development of 5G has been a critical focus for Telstra, given its extensive application in supporting individuals and businesses across many sectors. However, managing complex technical projects across different times can be pretty challenging. The project management concepts, including project evaluation, are intended to make monitoring much more manageable. The CP&D PMO, established in 2012 in Melbourne, Australia, was designed to support the overall finance and strategy. Monitoring and assessment of 5G were conducted through testing, trials and based on experiences from different players.
Introduction
The report covers a critical evaluation of a project undertaken by Telstra Corporation. The review covers the development of the 5G network in Australia. The report aims to review the project selection process and its alignment with the overall business strategy. The report further covers the need for program management in projects and the benefits of the approach in the overall management of projects. In addition, there is an evaluation of the benefits identification and management. The discussion extends to assessing the tools and processes applicable in monitoring the project’s performance, along with the best practices. The last part of the report highlights the need for a project management office, the assessment of benefits realization, and the findings and recommendations.
Organizational Context
Telstra is a leading telecommunications company in Australia. The company conducts numerous projects under the capability project and development (CP&D) project management office (PMO). The company has lately focused on developing and rolling out the 5G network, the most current and fastest mobile connectivity technology. The company defines 5G as the next generation of mobile technology in Australia. It provides many capabilities needed to facilitate enterprise transformation. According to Kim (2020), transformation in the 5G network platform will serve around 1 million devices per 1 square kilometer, compared to the current 4G connectivity that serves 2,000 connected devices per 0.38 square miles. Supported by cutting-edge mobile computing and network slicing, 5G will bolster small businesses to attain better operational efficiency. Amid the recent COVID-19 pandemic, 5G connectivity will support better healthcare delivery and modern agriculture practices and enhance the Internet of Things (IoT). In addition, 5G will enable the entities to move to use cloud services at a bigger scale and with better protection and security.
Table 1: 4G versus 5G
Strategic Alignment and Portfolio Management
The technological sector is a constantly changing aspect of modern life. Telstra acknowledges this reality and appreciates that it is pretty challenging for the company to maintain the pace of developments that emerge virtually daily. In addition, the company faces limitations occasioned by inadequate resources required to be expended in elevating networks and systems every moment a new technology is developed. Therefore, the company implores good decision-making in selecting the new technologies it chooses to adopt. Volk and Sterle (2021) state that a high level of discipline is needed to determine the technologies to pursue and the ones that must be sidelined. To facilitate the process for choosing projects, such as implementing the 5G connectivity.
The process of determining the operation of a project is not straightforward. The process begins with selecting a project by asking the right questions (Summers and Smith, 2014). In particular, project managers at Telstra seek to establish how the new technology or solution is vital to the company. Telstra has a committed team of experts who have been trained adequately and have the right skillset. There are project teams that analyze the primary subject matter. They are further classified into peer groups involving active industry enthusiasts who have an in-depth understanding of the current technological developments with a greater effect. The experts are endowed with sufficient technical prowess and integrate the company’s strategic philosophy in decision making by considering the customer needs along with the company’s business direction.
Once the experts identify the project to be implemented, the 5G network connectivity, the next undertaking involves a three-step process of further scrutinizing the execution. The first step is to validate the idea whereby the company develops different models and conducts tests. The method enables the company to examine its hypothesis, uncover future challenges or difficulties, and begin crafting the applicable model for implementation, considering the developed cases and the customer perspective (Yo et al., 2021). In developing the 5G network, the company started the validation process by opening the 5G Innovation Centre at the Telstra Southport exchange on the Gold Coast. The company designated the site as the main testing area for mobile technologies to promote the quick retail deployment of 5G.
After validating the idea, the company started the process of exploration, which required more time to develop the project. Exploration involves defining ways in which the project will benefit the customers and the competitive edge it possibly will bring to Telstra in the technology market. At this stage, if there is no apparent angle identified in pursuing the project, it becomes terminated. Moorhead (2017) indicates that the final phase involves realizing the project’s actual value by engaging expert teams in the broader Telstra corporation to accentuate the technology into procedures or development teams. In this last phase, the company initiates procurement processes to ensure required materials are provided. If the company identifies new business opportunities, this may prompt it to engage in additional validation steps.
Program Management
Telstra’s 5G network implementation has been conducted in a broader program to improve network connectivity and customer experience. The program captures different undertakings conducted at different times and with different teams. Compared to just a single project, a program entails a big undertaking that comprises numerous smaller performances that depend on each other. Therefore, the massive size of programs necessitates management by teams of people, with projects and activities designated across team members. A successful program is launched to enable a company to outline the objectives, plan execution, manage operations, and continually report the status. The use of programs by bundling projects together is highly beneficial instead of managing projects as distinctive units. Program management captures the entire process of mapping out and formulating the list of dependent projects that have to be undertaken to achieve the overall organizational objective. It entails focusing on strategy and implementation and how to assign tasks correctly.
Therefore, the program manager is expected to bolster the company’s strategic plan in scheduling projects that have to be undertaken. The mandate includes informing and advising stakeholders, reviewing the status and evolution of each project, coach and guide project managers, and guarantee the quality of each project plan along with the deliverables. According to Kerzner (2018) program management take a holistic approach to projects and analyzes the broader context of the overall organizational impact with the interdependencies by leveraging strategic reasoning. The individual projects must embody the goals and objectives of the program and its impact on the business.
The installation of 5G capability by Telstra had evolved through a series of interconnected projects starting in 2016 when the company performed Australia’s first 5G live field trial. In the following year, Telstra conducted the world’s first 5G trial data call over 26GHz’ mmWave’ radio frequency spectrum. In 2018, the company opened up the 5G innovation centre on Gold Coast. The $60 million investment in the facility was intended to test next-generation mobile technology in Australia and enable the quick launching of 5G services across the country (Moorhead, 2017). The project’s objective was to allow Telstra to boost the mobile network, develop a broader scope, and establish the cores of 5G. During the year, Telstra completed other 5G projects, including opening the world’s first domain of 5G-enabled Wi-Fi hotspots, the country’s foremost Connected Car, and the first end-to-end 5G data call on earth through a retail mobile network. As a result, Telstra switched on 5G technology across different parts of the Gold Coast.
In May 2019, Telstra partnered with Ericsson to roll out and activate 5G in ten cities extending the network coverage to over thirty cities in Australia. The company planned to expand the program by expanding the 5G network to other cities. Moreover, the companies worked together with numerous best-in-class collaborators to compose an end-to-end 5G ecosystem to enable the quick inauguration of Telstra’s 5G commercial network, the first in the country and across the region. In 2020, 2021, and 2022 the company has continued to expand the reach of 5G to cover over 75 per cent of Australia’s population (Moorhead, 2017). The sored of 5G continues along with the integration of support services, such as conducting comprehensive electromagnetic emissions (EME) testing and research on the 5G trial and marketable configurations, such as mmWave.
Benefits Identification and Management
Mobile technology has evolved through different generations that characterize changes in the way people and firms consume services. The development of 5G has been a critical focus for Telstra, given its extensive application in supporting individuals and businesses across many sectors. 2G and 3G were centered on voice calls and access to data connectivity. 4G evolved into increased use of mobile devices for video applications. 5G expand the scope of 4G to enable connections across different things. It is expected to grow the use of smart cities, factories and homes, virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, self-serving vehicles, machine learning, remote surgery and health care. 5G will support these and many other technological advancements by improving the quality of the underlying telecommunication systems.
Telstra has tested the benefits of 5G through numerous trials in the project planning phase and has developed three main domains around which the company and society will benefit. The first benefit for business and home use is boosting bandwidth (speed) through base station advancements and more prominent access to the spectrum. There has been close to a 40 per cent increase in traffic on mobile networks every year that has been enabled by 5G, which is over ten times faster than 4G and 100 times quicker than 3G. In addition, 5G is more efficient in maintaining such high speeds invariably, enabling people to download music, movies, apps, and audiobooks faster than ever before. The Telstra 5G will facilitate efficient uploads enabling posts and files to reach the intended audience swiftly.
The 5G connectivity covers a grander scale of operation in terms of connections per cell. In the coming times, society will demand millions of connections per cell. The 4G network can only manage a few links per cell; therefore, it is only 5G that can boost connectivity as the demands of the IoT continue to increase. It is expected that over 25 billion devices and networks will be interlinked globally by 2025. The trend is based on the penetration of smartphones and the booming IoT, meaning that data traffic on Telstra’s systems is going up by over 40 per cent every year. The network is like a brisk traffic-filled road with 5G touted to relieve the congestion by putting in more lanes in the form of a broader bandwidth that boosts speed in areas crowded by network connections.
Additionally, Telstra has established that 5G comes with an ultra-reliable low latency. Latency generally defines the response time, which is a factor of speed from when a data request is sent from a device to when data is returned. Pawlak et al. (2019) suggest that 5G has incredibly high rates, which enables exceptionally low latency that is highly reliable in the application to extraordinary cases. For instance, self-driving vehicles demand much lower latency than the 4G networks cannot provide. A delay in the transmission and processing of instructions may be detrimental in such instances. Therefore, 5G is good news to people wanting more speeds like gamers and in mission-critical industrial mechanization.
Evaluation Tools and Processes
Managing complex technological projects across different times can be pretty challenging. The initial stages of any undertaking involve detailed planning, which sets the foundation for the execution stage. The project team develops schedules, plans, and estimations that guide them in completing various milestones and deliverables. Despite a high level of care fullness, the successful management of all projects may not be easy or possible. There is a need to keep track of crucial elements to ensure the project succeeds. Mikkelsen (2019) argues that project management concepts, including project evaluation, are intended to simplify monitoring. Project evaluation supports the project teams to plan adequately and evaluate performance through collecting and analyzing data to establish opportunities to improve performance.
In addition, the process is vital in ensuring the stakeholders are updated on the project progress and whichever modifications may well be needed in funding or schedule management. Employing this background, the project teams at Telstra have constantly monitored the opinions regarding the execution of the 5G program. Many concerns have been raised across different platforms, primarily targeting the impact of 5G on consumers’ health. Moorhead (2017) states that the problems relate to the electromagnetic energy (EME) in using 5G, especially in an extremely high-tech connected residence. The organization notes that EME is an everyday natural occurrence perpetrated by the earth and the sun. The electromagnetic spectrum facilitates the working of technologies, such as Wi-Fi, radio communications, and television. However, the vast majority of these systems emit a low level of EME. Tests have to be performed across different consumer devices to certify their compliance with the governing bodies’ standards and safety limits.
As a result of the many concerns in society regarding the safety of the new 5G technology, Telstra conducted tests to answer different questions regarding its use. In particular, the company sought to understand how hard the data speeds on the 5G network can be pushed and the resultant EME levels created. Therefore, the company set up an experiment in an apartment packed with more than 50 connected devices. Some teenagers were invited to stay over a weekend in the house and make maximum use of the 5G, 4G and Wi-Fi Services. The test outcome established that low levels of EME characterize 5G even under exceptionally high data usage. In particular, the background EME levels from the Wi-Fi and mobile connections were relatively low at just 0.008 per cent of the EME safety threshold. For comparison, the EME from the connections was low compared to the background EME levels recorded from the local radio and television stations on the apartment’s corridor, which was 0.011 per cent.
The data revealed that the EME in the apartment was over 10,000 times under the public EME safety limit established by the ARPANSA despite combining signals from 5G, 4G, and 5G powered Wi-Fi gadgets. The findings affirm statements by the ARPANSA on the public health safety of 5G. Other health bodies, including the World Health Organization (WHO), have analyzed the scientific data for possible health consequences. Their recent findings indicate no predominant proof for health effects from radio waves utilized in mobile telecommunication networks, including in Telstra’s roll-out of the 5G network that is safe.
Role of the Project Management Office in portfolio management
The Project Management Office (PMO) is a dedicated division in a company mandated with the definition and maintenance of principles for project management. Kerzner (2018) states that the PMO details the standards and offers guidance in implementing projects by creating palpable goals in line with the broad organization’s mission and vision and guaranteeing that the set targets are achieved. The PMO provides overall guidance in education on the best project principles and methodology, providing project templates and process standardization, which are needed in companies that run many cross-functional undertakings. For instance, Telstra runs several projects with interdependencies and projects involving different departments concurrently. The role of a PMO in the company varies with other organizations depending on its size and scale. A victorious PMO brings in high-quality human resources, tools, and processes, as depicted in the figure 2 below;
Telstra established its PMO, called Capability Planning & Delivery (CP&D), in 2012 in Melbourne, Australia. The PMO was established as a distinctive function in the company to support the overall finance and strategy. It was assigned a clear purpose of facilitating the annual capital investment prioritization, funding, and planning to enrich the involved programs and projects. Since its establishment, the PMO has developed a single and across-the-board investment gating criterion. It has created a culture of constant continuation of projects that have formed a company-wide cultural transformation towards project management.
Furthermore, the CP&D PMO has attracted sponsorships through the formulated model, with the number of sponsors increasing by over 77 per cent. The involvement of sponsors has helped to develop project management openings. It has created an internal community that guides and supports the career development needed to manage over 1,350 projects (Wong et al., 2022). Additionally, the PMO has created robust project management procedures and cooperation. It has formulated roadmaps and provides an executive dashboard that fits the project management framework required to bolster many methodologies, including lean, waterfall, agile, and hybrid systems. The project management practice is essential to all private and public entities that revamp enterprises and assistance that opens up opportunities for people to prosper. The CP&D helps to improve the project management responsibility and move it forward in a calculated fashion.
Telstra PMO has been recognized as a world-class setup awarded by the Project Management Institute (PMI) in 2018 in Washington, DC, for its exemplary performance. It was recognized for integrating strategic and economic domains to corporate Australia’s biggest capital budget portfolio. The CP&D has supported Telstra in attaining an admirable competitive advantage over peers by linking business cases, corporate strategy, and capital deployment. It makes sure that big and complex projects are performed to the defined triple constraint of time, quality, and cost and that the expected windfalls are realized (Soldani et al., 2018). It was awarded for demonstrating outstanding organizational project management potential by adding value to Telstra by supporting successful strategic ambitions. The PMI award was shaped to recognize a PMO that has created a vision for delivering value and has had a favorable and noticeable impact on business outcomes.
Benefits Realization
Monitoring and assessment of 5G were conducted through testing, trials and based on experiences from different players. Even though the benefits can be definitively quantified, it is expected that 5G will provide many revolutionary sectors of the economy. Telstra notes that 5G will enhance experiences for home and office applications. The company conducted trials and established that downloading a 2-hour movie will take no more than 10 seconds in contrast to 7 minutes with 4G (Xiaolei and Guangming, 2021). The view has been substantiated by the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) and Communications Alliance (CA). The institutions that undermine developments in the technology space are propelled by consumer demands advocating for businesses to implement modifications required to satisfy the existing and anticipated powerful and constantly growing appetite for enhanced mobile services.
In addition, AMTA observes that the technology will offer an answer to different outstanding problems nationally and globally. This will benefit industries and sectors like agriculture to enhance the conservation of agriculture and food supply, environmental or climatic challenges, education, and healthcare (Yu et al., 2017). Farmers’ organizations in Australia, such as WAFarmers, emphasize that 5G is not just a technology but an enabler of future gains. For instance, farmers can efficiently and effectively deploy sensor technology on farms to monitor water content in soils to improve productivity while using less water. 5G will make this possible as it will be able to interlock up to 10 times the number of devices as 4G in a given farm area (Moorhead, 2017). This will considerably increase the data obtainable to the farmer instantaneously.
The COVID-19 experience has underlined the usefulness of real-time data during a health pandemic. Most likely, the experience will push many countries to prioritize the necessary digital transformation to support swift access to real-time data that can only be facilitated by 5G technology. Meese et al. (2020) states that the health sector will significantly benefit from the low latency provided by 5G that will accentuate real-time access, meaning the variation between life and death. It will be needed to support telehealth services, including telesurgery, that will enable remote treatment and operation on patients in far-flung locations. In addition, 5G will improve health outcomes, such as health wearables that can dependably convey real-time data to medical experts, innovative dressings that track treatment, and portable, nimbler surgical robots that enable telesurgery.
Ericsson, which partnered with Telstra in delivering some 5G projects, appreciates that 5G would constitute a broader assortment of ingenious technologies. ‌Stawomir (2020) argues that 5G will be the base for expected technological advancements in virtual and augmented reality and artificial intelligence by supporting the desired outcomes. The company notes that the full potential for 5G will continue to manifest itself as it widens the network’s coverage. In the same way, the discovery of smartphones resulted in new services and applications, and 5G will slowly trigger additional functionalities in the future. Besides, the government has provided the necessary support to the delivery of 5G and expected to benefit by improving the operation of local infrastructure.
Findings and Recommendations
Telstra is a leading telecommunications company and conducts many projects under the Capability Planning & Delivery (CP&D) project management office (PMO). The technological sector is a constantly changing aspect of modern life, and project managers at Telstra seek to establish how the new technologies or solutions are essential to the company. Experts are tasked with identifying the projects to be started, after which the process of validation, exploration, and realization is undertaken. Telstra’s 5G network implementation has been conducted in a more comprehensive program to improve network connectivity and customer experience. Telstra has been a critical focus, given its extensive application in supporting individuals and businesses across many sectors. However, managing complex technical projects across different times can be pretty challenging. The project management concepts, including project evaluation, are intended to make monitoring much more manageable. The CP&D PMO was formed to support the overall finance and strategy, while project monitoring and assessment were conducted through testing, trials, and different experiences.
Reference list
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