Muhammad Kaleem

I have 10 years of experience in Transmission Networks (DWDM, SDH/SONET, MPLS-TP) and 16 years in RF Planning/ Optimization (Cellular and Fixed Wireless). I worked closely with development and core network teams on many swap/expansion projects. I remained involved in the design, planning, rollout, and optimization phases.

Other Skills:
- DevOps, OpenStack, NFV, VMWare, Docker & Kubernetes.
- Linux and Bash scripting.
- Automation tools: Ansible, Vagrant, Jenkins.
- AWS (EC2, S3, Elastic Beanstalk, RDS, Route53, ELB, SageMaker, CloudFront, CloudWatch, SNS).
- GIS software like MapInfo, ArcGIS, QGIS, and Google Earth.
- Protocol Troubleshooting skills with the help of Wireshark.
- Experience in Python coding and source control via Git. SQL & Power BI.
- Routing, switching, and networking knowledge including TCP/IP, ACL, NAT/PAT knowledge.


PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Position: Senior Manager Service Quality Management (Transport & IP) April 2021 to present
Company: Pakistan Telecommunication Co. Ltd-Etisalat Pakistan (PTCL/Ufone)

• Identifying and evaluating performance enhancement opportunities in IP (Router/Switches, CDNs, BRASs/BNG, AAA, DNS) and Transport (OTN, DWDM, SDH, MPLS-TP, MW) domains.
• Correlated 3G/4G cell performance issues (TNL failures, IPPM drops) with MW transmission network performance through automation using Python/Power BI skills and reduced analysis time. This greatly enhanced the efficiency and performance of the network.
• Analyzing performance reports of Country-wide Fixed Transport/Access, IP, and Microwave networks and follow-up for improvement of KPIs. This brought down the count of highly utilized links and improved customer experience.
• Knowledge of Nokia 100G products (1830 PSS). Experience in optical network management systems of Nokia (NFM-T), Huawei (NCE-T), and FiberHome (OTNM).
• Analyzing MW/DRS performance and correlating with services (4G eNB, MSAGs, Corporate Links). Addressing choking issues with the help of software/ hardware up-gradation. Getting resolved low modulation/poor RSL cases.
• Knowledge of Layer 2 access technologies like VDSL2, ADSL2+, GPON/OLT/ONT, and Fixed Wireless.
• Analyzing utilization of Access Links from the SolarWinds platform and directing teams to resolve high utilization cases. The customer experience improved with the resolution of highly utilized links.
• Supervised trial of Wi-Fi as a Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) solution for rural areas in the 5GHz band. The vendor was Cambium Networks.
• Monitoring the performance of FiberHome/Huawei/ZTE PTN, and Nokia 100G transport networks. Identifying congested links, Optical power, Protection, and traffic balancing issues. Forward the recommendation to the Transport team for resolution.
• Got resolved Redundancy, load balancing, and Capacity of IP core critical links.
• Auto-reporting and preparing the dashboard for IP Core NEs (CPU/Memory usage, environment temperature) with the help of the BI tool. Raising a flag in case of any health issue.
• Experience in testing 5G and 4G/LTE CPE devices (Fixed Wireless Access routers/gateways, 4G/5G Wifi Cloud).
• Knowledge and hands-on experience with containers and relevant technologies such as Kubernetes, Docker, OpenStack and AWS/GCP Cloud Infrastructure, VMWare.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE


• Lead a team of engineers to execute optimization-related activities for LTE FDD/TDD Network and 3G/CDMA BTSs in the North Region of Pakistan.
• RAN optimization at Regional/Cluster Level/Site Level by analysis & troubleshooting of Parameters, Neighbor list optimization. Optimizing RSRP, RSRQ, SINR, and CQI for better coverage, quality & throughput.
• Optimized resources by performing the capacity analysis (Radio resources, transmission resources, HW resources, licensing) and identifying potential issues, e.g., latency, throughput, failed connection attempts, drop connections, etc. that resulted in improved user experience.
• Deployed and Optimized Corporate links (Banks, Government organizations, and other Corporate Customers) with Fixed wireless CPEs/Routers on LTE TDD 3.5GHz technology.
• Knowledge of Regulatory management including Regulatory Licensing, Regulatory Policy & Compliance, Networks, Spectrum Management, Numbering, and Quality of Service.
• Regular meetings with the business team to find out low-performing regions and plan for improvement.
• Analyzing performance management reports and asking the operation team to include sites in the preventive maintenance schedule having frequent issues so as to reduce OPEX and increase revenue.
• Performing LTE feature recommendations and trials. 4G LTE Call Processing and in-depth knowledge of RRC, S1-MME, S1-U, and X2 protocols.
• Knowledge of 5G concepts like SA, NSA, Spectrum (FR1, FR2), massive-MIMO, beamforming, BWP, New Waveforms, LTE-NR interworking & co-existence, 5G Numerologies and uses cases like eMBB, URLLC, mMTC, MCPTT, V2X.
• Knowledge of 5G Core technology like AMF, SMF, UPF, PCF, AUSF, UDM, NSSF, Interfaces (N1, N2, …), and Service-based interfaces. RAN Virtualization, Network Slicing.
• Understanding of IoT applications in different sectors like Smart cities, smart homes, smart energy/smart grids, Transportation, Health, Education, monitoring/sensing, etc. Concept of mmWave,
• Knowledge of non-cellular access technologies for IoT like ZigBee, LoRa, SigFox, Bluetooth, and cellular access technologies like GSM, EGSM IoT, LTE-M, and NB-IoT.
• Technical knowledge of VoLTE/IMS/SIP, SRVCC, NB-IoT, SON, SDN, NFV, centralized RAN (C-RAN), and O-RAN.
• Good understanding of overall Wireless systems and PHY, MAC, RLC, RRC, and PDCP layers.
• Good understanding of TTI bundling, RoHC, and SPS scheduling for VoLTE capacity optimization.
• Knowledge of wireless packet core technology such as PCRF, HSS, PGW, SGW, MME, SGSN, and GGSN.
• Knowledge of 3GPP/ITU standards and how to apply for the latest releases on architecture and design.

• Lead a team of engineers to execute optimization-related activities for CDMA 2000 1x/EVDO in the North Region of Pakistan. Performed a lead role in many swap and expansion projects.
• Good understanding of BSS, Core and Transmission part of the network.
• Took part in planning and worked with deployment team in rolling out several projects in different phases that increased the footprint of wireless broadband service from 03 cities in 2008 to 250+ cities in 2011.
• Strong knowledge of RF engineering principles (RF communications theory, radio design principles, propagation modeling). Optimized SINR, Rx for better quality & throughput.
• Performed O&M activities. Designed rectifier, batteries and DG set capacity for the NEs.
• Proposed up-gradation /expansion of network based on coverage and capacity analysis.
• Performed core network capacity audit and resolved low throughput issues by optimizing core NEs.
• Capacity Monitoring: CE usage, Walsh Code Usage, TCH Congestion, RF power overload, Abis congestion, Backhaul transmission, RSSI (Noise Rise) monitoring, data traffic monitoring between PCF and PDSN, etc. for expansion.

• Worked closely with project team in rolling out of 1300+ CDMA 2000 BTSs across the whole country.
• Responsible for RF optimization of CDMA 2000 (1x Voice, data & EVDO) Network deployed by Huawei, ZTE.
• Managed a team of engineers to execute the optimization activities like conducting Drive Tests, addressing coverage/ voice breaking/ call dropping/ handoff failure/ access failure issues.
• Tested & implemented inter vendor hard handoff and intra vendor soft handoff across the whole country.
• Problem identification with Layer 3 Messages; Uplink/ Downlink measurements.
• Network elements monitoring, analysis, fine tuning, optimization and troubleshooting.
• Generated BSS traffic reports, analyzing traffic reports, taking actions to maintain KPIs and forward the recommendations to planning wing for expansion.
• Extensive experience in testing of Mobile terminals and 3g CPEs/data devices.
• Worked on device testing for qualifying the products. PRL testing for 1x and EVDO network.

• Worked on following projects as team member:
 Worked as a team member in testing and commissioning of 16 x 2.5 Gbit/s DWDM/SDH network in Center Region of Pakistan. Huawei, China supplied equipment.
 Worked on Huawei DWDM (OptiX BWS 320G & BWS 1600G) and SDH equipment (OSN 9500, OSN 7500, OSN 3500, (STM16/STM-64)), Siemens SDH and Nortel DWDM.
• Planning/ Designing/ Implementing/ Commissioning of SDH/DWDM links.
• OAM & P experience of SDH/DWDM networks.
• Knowledge of ROADM, ULH, ODN, GMPLS, CDC, GPON/FTTx technology.
• Supervised NOC and ensured that the NOC organization is adequately staffed and that key positions are delegated to personnel with adequate training and skills to perform the task to ensure that these are according to the service delivery requirements.
• Provided the management with reports on NOC performance as per agreed schedule and ensured that the network performance reports are generated as desired pattern and delivered in time. Knowledge of IP Transmission on backbone transport network.
• Worked with internal technical teams for product placement and feature improvements for reliability, availability, and serviceability.
• Hands on experience of Testing equipment like Digital Transmission Analyzer (e.g. ACTERNA ANT-20 SE), Optical Spectrum Analyser, Optical Power Meter, Optical Laser Source, OTDR, Optical Cable Fault Locator, Visual Fault Finder etc.