Joseph Banda
Peterborough
Summary
Driven professional with knowledge and experience to guide and direct tower operations, power infrastructure, and fuel dimensioning to save costs and meet KPIs across Operations. Working in collaboration with Commercial Departments over the years to understand client expectations is an added advantage.
Overview
27
27
years of professional experience
1
1
Certification
Work History
Regional Manager Tower Operations
Lusaka IHS Zambia
Lusaka
2016.11 - Current
- In charge of over 1,320 telecommunications towers across five out of six regions in 10 years.
- Responsible for regional operations – tower assets, human resources, operational assets, contractors, security, mobile network operators, and any other stakeholders in the regions.
- Focus on client KPIs and reduction of penalties. Some of the clients: Airtel, MTN, CEC Liquid, and other ISPs. This is mainly in terms of Power Availability and third-party site maintenance.
- Preparation of management reports and database management for planning purposes (infrastructure dimensioning, client onboarding and other functions).
- Personnel and cluster planning.
- Maintained Power Availability above KPI in the Regions.
- Honored by MTN in the Copperbelt Region for good performance.
- Reduced overall site fuel consumption (a critical component of OPEX) by 55% in Copperbelt and 23% in Southern Regions.
- Reduced fuel thefts by 77% (11,000 Litres per month to 2,500 Litres per month) in Lusaka Region through realignment of fuel management and theft reporting procedures.
- Reduced theft of tower assets from rampant to almost zero in all Regions.
- Resolved legal issues (court attendance and successfully secured convictions) in all regions.
- Resolution of emergencies (both network and human resource related).
- Vendor evaluation.
Project Manager Implementation
IHS Zambia Limited
Lusaka
2014.08 - 2016.11
- Successfully deployed and upgraded power infrastructure for a new acquisition OpCo (IHS Zambia) at over 2,000 cell sites.
- Site Asset Management (SAM2) system roll-out and integration up to closure at more than 748 cell sites.
- Power system refurbishment and enhancement at grid cell sites (rectifier, network battery, ATS, and Generator replacement) to achieve full site automation at more than 2000 existing cell sites and 35 new cell sites.
- Off-grid sites power upgrades (more than 75 existing IHS_MTN towers and 150 existing IHS_AIRTEL sites).
- Performance appraisals for Projects staff (administration).
Site Engineer – Grid Extension Projects - (REA)
Plinth Technical Works
Chingola
2012.11 - 2014.01
- On-site chief interpreter of technical drawings and instructions contained in Project Contract Documents from Rural Electrification Authority (REA), Republic of Zambia.
- Preparation of program of works, cash flow projections, and scheduling of resources for the project.
- Compilation of weekly, monthly, and quarterly reports on project progress and expenditure, among other functions.
- Project acceptances and closure.
Manager – Fixed Line Access
LapGreen Networks
Lusaka
2010.12 - 2011.04
- In charge of the Fixed Line Network (Public Switched Telephone Network - PSTN) at the national level.
- Formulation of policy on the operations of the PSTN, including preparation of work schedules (preventive maintenance, new rollouts, and network refurbishments, management reports, tools requisitions, sectional budgets, etc.).
- Implementation of the newly introduced Performance Management system in line with set Key Results Areas (KRAs).
- The privatization of Zamtel led to changes in the overall structure and policy. I had the privilege of being one of the managers tasked with redesigning the operational structures, reporting procedures, and staff establishments in the Fixed Line Access section.
- Inter- and intra-departmental realignment in the new acquisition under LapGreen Networks.
Sectional Engineer - Network Management
Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited
NDOLA
2005.05 - 2010.12
- Network traffic analysis (microwave, Fiber Optics, Fixed Line and Telephone exchanges) for the purpose of intervention and planning.
- Design and maintenance of service provisioning structures on microwave, fiber, and Fixed Line networks.
- Production of appropriate network performance and operations reports for maintenance and management.
- Service provisioning, configuration, and maintenance on microwave, fiber, and Fixed Line networks.
- Provision of network data (through network audits) needed for planning purposes.
- Acceptance testing and commissioning of new systems.
- Part of team that carried out the first migration of long-haul transmission links from microwave to fiber on Lusaka/Copperbelt and Lusaka/Northern routes to create redundancy.
- Carried out technical evaluations on procurement of new telecommunications equipment, fleet, spares, and office equipment.
- Key person in the provision of transmission resource (capacity) to the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) Wide Area Network during Presidential and General elections from 2006 and beyond, as well as leased capacity to all Zamtel customers, including Airtel and MTN (before they set up their own gateways, ISPs, Banks, and Government departments, e.g., PSMD for Civil Servants' payroll under the Cabinet Office countrywide).
- Key person in the provision of transmission capacity to all major and minor projects within Zamtel (Rural projects, GSM, MPLS, etc.).
- Modified 'Loss calculation' formula, which the Company had been using for many years to calculate revenue losses on microwave links, so that the formula could cover properties of two-way circuits (incoming and outgoing) and average peak hour utilization, to come up with realistic Power and Transmission Availability figures reflective of international standards.
- Successfully carried out the dimensioning of the international link between Lamya House and Mwembeshi Earth Station on behalf of the Commercial Department to determine whether some carriers could be dropped to save the company money and free some capacity.
- Production of management reports for the Executive and the Board of Directors for over 5 years.
Technologist (Team Lead) - Fixed Line (PSTN)
Zambia Telecommunications Limited
Kitwe
1997.04 - 2005.05
- Planning, construction, and maintenance of the Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN).
- Daily field interventions.
- Preparation of daily maintenance schedules.
- Service provisioning (final client onboarding).
- Successfully led teams for 8 years in various PSTN exchange areas of Kitwe, Zambia.
Education
Certificate - Situational Leadership
Ken Blanchard Leadership
United States2015-09
Certificate - Engine Core Introduction (LZU 108 1476)
Ericsson Telecom AB
South Africa2007-07
Some College (No Degree) - Tele-traffic Management
TM Training Solutions - Commonwealth Telecomms
United Kingdom2007-03
Certificate - Management of Leased Data Circuits
TM Training Solutions - Commonwealth Telecomms
United Kingdom2006-02
Some College (No Degree) - ZXPDSS & ZXC10-BSSB Level B – 3 Modules
ZTE University
China2005-10
Bachelor of Science - Electrical/Electronics Engineering
Copperbelt University
Kitwe, Zambia2005-04
Certificate - External Line Plant Network (PSTN) Certificate
Zambia Telecommunications College
Ndola, Zambia1999-10
Diploma - Telecommunications Technology
Copperbelt University
Kitwe, Zambia1995-12
Master of Science - Renewable Energy Engineering
University of Zambia
LusakaSkills
- Experience in establishment of new tower acquisition operations
- Spares Management
- Operational management
- Performance Management
- Staff Training and Development
- Safety protocol
- Strategic Planning
- Database Management
- Project Management
- Cost Reduction
- Vendor Management
- Operations
- Staff Management
- Network optimization
- Client onboarding
- Cell site power infrastructure deployment
- Electrical Infrastructure dimensioning
- Technical evaluations
- Staff onboarding
- Digital Workflows software (Service Now)
- Sarbanes-Oxley (SOX) processes
Certification
- · Up-to-date member of the Engineering Institution of Zambia and Registered Engineer (EIZ) No: 013170 and EngRB No. 003578).
Languages
English
Proficient (C2)
C2
Affiliations
- Livestock farming
Accomplishments
- Honored by MTN in the Copperbelt Region for good performance.
- Outstanding performance scores in 2022 and 2023.
Timeline
Regional Manager Tower Operations
Lusaka IHS Zambia
2016.11 - Current
Project Manager Implementation
IHS Zambia Limited
2014.08 - 2016.11
Site Engineer – Grid Extension Projects - (REA)
Plinth Technical Works
2012.11 - 2014.01
Manager – Fixed Line Access
LapGreen Networks
2010.12 - 2011.04
Sectional Engineer - Network Management
Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited
2005.05 - 2010.12
Technologist (Team Lead) - Fixed Line (PSTN)
Zambia Telecommunications Limited
1997.04 - 2005.05
- · Up-to-date member of the Engineering Institution of Zambia and Registered Engineer (EIZ) No: 013170 and EngRB No. 003578).
Certificate - Situational Leadership
Ken Blanchard Leadership
Certificate - Engine Core Introduction (LZU 108 1476)
Ericsson Telecom AB
Some College (No Degree) - Tele-traffic Management
TM Training Solutions - Commonwealth Telecomms
Certificate - Management of Leased Data Circuits
TM Training Solutions - Commonwealth Telecomms
Some College (No Degree) - ZXPDSS & ZXC10-BSSB Level B – 3 Modules
ZTE University
Bachelor of Science - Electrical/Electronics Engineering
Copperbelt University
Certificate - External Line Plant Network (PSTN) Certificate
Zambia Telecommunications College
Diploma - Telecommunications Technology
Copperbelt University
Master of Science - Renewable Energy Engineering
University of Zambia
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