Capacity Building Courses

Our training courses offer practical information and key insights into the most pressing issues faced by regulatory authorities worldwide. They are developed and taught by industry experts, suitable for professionals at all stages of their career and regularly updated to take advantage of real-world examples. All courses are offered both face-to-face and online, providing maximum flexibility for learners. Click on the titles below to explore our courses in more detail.

Addressing the Digital Divide

Although the world is more connected than ever before, not everyone currently benefits. This course focuses on both expanding mobile broadband coverage (especially in rural areas) and on accelerating mobile internet adoption, which is the biggest challenge we face in addressing the digital divide. Packed with the latest GSMA insights into the barriers to digital inclusion, the course also details concrete policy actions that can be used to address them. This training has been developed by the GSMA Connected Society programme, which is funded by UK Aid and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida).

Face-to-face: 2 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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5G — The Path to the Next Generation

The mobile industry is preparing to embark on the transition to fifth generation (5G) technology, which will build on the achievements of 4G while also creating new opportunities for innovation. 5G will usher in a new era that will see connectivity become increasingly fluid and flexible. This course covers the key aspects of 5G technology and examines the role governments and regulators can play in helping unlock the benefits of future 5G services for their citizens.

Face-to-face: 2 day course / Online: 4 week course

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Big Data Analytics and Artificial Intelligence for Impact

Climate change, infectious diseases, disasters, air pollution, migration and poverty are among the most critical challenges the world faces today. This course looks at the role mobile technology, advanced analytics and artificial intelligence can play in drastically improving the effectiveness and efficiency of planning and responses to these challenges. It also considers the ways in which insight-driven decision-making can encourage the adoption and responsible use of mobile data analytics and artificial intelligence to accelerate progress in delivering the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals.

Face-to-face: 1 day course / Online: 4 week course

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Bridging the Mobile Gender Gap

There is currently a significant gender gap associated with access to, and use of, the internet and mobile broadband services. This gender gap can be attributed to a number of factors including the cost of devices and services, network coverage, concerns around security and harassment as well as a lack of technical literacy among women. This course explains the background to the issues and focuses on strategies that can be used to help close the gender gap.

Face-to-face: 1 day course / Online: 4 week course

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Children’s Rights and Connectivity

Connectivity and the digital environment are increasingly central to children’s lives. They afford numerous opportunities for the realisation of a number children’s fundamental rights – such as access to information and education – but they can also create risks and play a role in rights violations. This course looks at the various ways in which children are impacted by the digital environment. It considers the growing body of research on children’s digital experience, as well as the role of policymakers and other key stakeholders in promoting opportunities while combatting potential risks.

Face-to-face: 1 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Climate Change and the Mobile Industry

This course aims to inform telecommunications policymakers and regulators, particularly those in emerging and developing markets, about the multifaceted relationship between mobile technologies and climate change. It also discusses how the mobile industry is reducing its own impacts on climate change while also enabling climate action in other sectors. Furthermore, it details how policymakers can facilitate climate action across the mobile ecosystem and beyond.

This course will also be helpful to other important stakeholders, including energy and climate-related policymakers seeking to better understand how mobile technologies can contribute to climate action; and relevant international organisations and NGOs who are interested in the intersection between digital and mobile technologies and climate change.

Face-to-face: 2 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Competition Policy in the Digital Age

Competition in mobile telecommunications is multifaceted and dynamic. Regulatory authorities must be alert to rapid technological changes that impact infrastructure competition and the related downstream and upstream markets.
This course provides a foundation for understanding the rules of competition and the regulatory powers that apply to the telecommunications sector, within the background of a wider competitive landscape that now includes Over-The-Top players.

Face-to-face: 2 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Internet of Things

The Internet of Things (IoT) holds tremendous promise for citizens, consumers, businesses and governments. Referring to machines, devices and appliances of all kinds that are connected to the internet through multiple networks, IoT has the means to shrink healthcare costs, reduce carbon emissions, increase access to education, improve transportation safety and much more. This course provides a high-level overview of IoT concepts from a mobile perspective, outlines the role IoT can play in enhancing the quality of life of citizens and explains the key differences between traditional telecoms services and the IoT world. It also discusses the implications that IoT has for policymakers and regulators. This course is accredited by the UKTA.

Face-to-face: 2 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Leveraging Mobile to Achieve SDG Targets

In September 2015, the UN’s 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was unanimously adopted by world leaders. The agenda details 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and 169 targets that act as the world’s to-do list to end poverty, reduce inequalities and tackle climate change. Countries have committed to act in collaborative partnership with other stakeholders to implement the plan by 2030. The mobile industry is delivering a vast range of programmes and initiatives to support these efforts. This course offers practical advice and case studies to help governments understand how they can harness the power of mobile in their efforts to achieve national sustainable development targets.

Face-to-face: 2 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Mobile Money for Financial Inclusion

Mobile money services are proliferating in many countries, providing ‘unbanked’ citizens with the ability to manage their money and make financial transactions efficiently and securely. While the business model has been proven through hundreds of self-sustaining services, many countries have only a nascent mobile money sector. Meanwhile, in mature markets the mobile money platform is now used to offer a broader range of financial and mobile-for-development services.
This course provides an in-depth look at mobile money services — how they work, the stakeholders involved and the regulatory enablers, as well as critical issues such as cross-network interoperability.

Face-to-face: 1 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Mobile Networks and Personal Data

Over the last decade the mobile phone has become the primary means for people to access the internet whenever they want and wherever they go. This has led not only to alternative internet-based communications services, but also to an explosion of third party online services that make intensive use of personal information via the mobile phone. The course explains what data is collected from users across the mobile ecosystem and how it is stored, used and accessed, as well as the related data protection and privacy implications for government, industry and other stakeholders.

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Principles of Mobile Privacy

The growth of the mobile internet and converged services is creating new challenges related to the use and protection of people’s personal information, as data flows between multiple parties, in real time, across geographic borders.
This course investigates the current state of mobile privacy, highlights research on consumer attitudes towards their privacy and examines current and emerging regulations around the world. The course also reviews the GSMA’s universal mobile privacy principles, Privacy Design Guidelines for app developers and industry initiatives that give consumers more control over how their information is used.

Face-to-face: 1 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Radio Signals and Health

The effect of radio transmissions on health has been studied extensively, leading to international standards for network antennas and exposure limits for workers and the public. Despite the ever-growing body of scientific knowledge, many people continue to be concerned about electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and their impact on health. This course looks at the state of the science, standards for mobile technologies, regulatory compliance and public awareness and education. This course is accredited by the UKTA.

Face-to-face: 1 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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Spectrum Management for Mobile Telecommunications

This course considers the history and technical evolution of mobile telecommunications before moving on to cover the core functions of the spectrum manager. Participants will learn about how spectrum is used, the characteristics of spectrum bands and the progression of mobile technologies. The course also covers the principles of spectrum planning at a national, regional and international level. A deep dive into spectrum licensing will be followed by an overview of regulatory topics that relate to spectrum, such as infrastructure sharing, and numerous illustrative case studies.

Face-to-face: 2 day course / Online: 5 week course

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The Evolution of Radio Access Networks: Disaggregation, Open RAN and 6G

The Radio Access Network (RAN) is a key component of mobile operators’ infrastructure, as it provides the coverage and capacity necessary for subscribers to access voice and data services.

Motivated by the convergence of several technical, commercial and geopolitical factors, mobile network operators have been investigating and supporting a shift towards the use of virtualisation, disaggregation and open interfaces in the RAN. The hope is that opening up proprietary elements and interfaces in the RAN will increase competition in the telecoms equipment market by encouraging new, innovative vendors to enter the market.

This course examines the issues around a shift towards an open and disaggregated RAN, looks at alliances and initiatives in the Open RAN movement and examines the impact that these industry headwinds will have on the development of the 6G standard.

Face-to-face: 2 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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The Importance of Sustainability and ESG to the Mobile Industry

Sustainability is one of the defining issues of our generation. Consumers, employees and regulators are increasingly vocal regarding their expectations for companies to act responsibly and to demonstrate how they create value to society.

Operating in a responsible and sustainable way is not just about doing the right thing for society or the environment — it also makes business sense in today’s commercial environment. This course looks at why operating responsibly is so important for companies in the mobile sector, and highlights how the industry is moving towards more effective and consistent approaches to measuring and communicating ESG performance.

Unfortunately, previous reporting approaches were fragmented and burdensome, due to the multitude of global ESG reporting standards and an ‘alphabet soup’ of standard-setters. This was hindering meaningful action and transformation. However, the sector has now defined at set of industry-specific ESG KPIs to streamline the process.

This course explains why ESG KPIs are important, details the new KPIs that have been designed specifically for the mobile industry and explains the practical steps operators are taking to implement these metrics in their ESG reports.

Online: 2 week course

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The Role of Mobile in Humanitarian Action

The need for humanitarian assistance is on the rise. A recent report from the UN OCHA estimates that 235 million people worldwide currently require assistance and protection. New partnership models and innovative tools and approaches are crucial to address this growing humanitarian challenge. As a result, mobile technology is now critical to the success of disaster response efforts and the delivery of humanitarian aid. Policymakers and regulators need to better understand how they can support these efforts through effective policies. This course looks at the role of policymakers and mobile operators in disaster response management and the effect they can have on the acceleration of aid delivery during and after a humanitarian crisis.

Face-to-face: 1 day course/ Online: 4 week course

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