Ikundu Gatambia

Experience

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  Revolution Chemicals Limited

  Nov 2008 - Aug 2009

  Systems Support

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------In my systems support role, I provided level 1 support on ICT infrastructure and operations for 25 users.Key Roles and Successes: Reduced downtime through hardware and software upgrades, configuration and maintenance of company servers. Established remote connectivity by setting up and rolling out VPN. Performed upgrades on desktop and server hardware (RAM) to boost performance and resilience. Show less

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  Broadband Engineering & Communication Limited

  Aug 2009 - Mar 2011

  Broadband Engineering and Communication Limited is an engineering service provider specializing in telecommunication infrastructure services.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------As the Project Manager in charge of GSM Site Acquisition, I piloted end-to-end site acquisition and project reporting for Airtel Networks.Key Roles and Successes: Managed 4 technicians and up to KES 720 000 in project budgets. Acquired 35 of 42 sites within a record of two months. Coordinated end-to-end site acquisition project, from project feasibility to client requirements, potential site orientation, access roads, ingress/egress position, and stakeholder/landlord engagement in line with Airtel terms and conditions. Developed site acquisition reports for submission to Airtel’s legal and procurement departments. Show less --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------My role as Team Leader involved leading a team of 4 technicians in steering technical aspects of Safaricom’s Environmental Impact Assessment, through measurement of Electro-Magnetic Radiation (EMR) power levels depending on the number of Base Transceiver Station Sites.Key Roles and Successes: Oversaw between KES 200 000 and KES 240 00 in project budgets. Conducted EMR measurement and crafted reports on 415 Transceiver Stations in Nairobi, Western Kenya, Coastal Kenya, and Rift Valley regions. Developed, commissioned, and rolled out LAN, WLAN, and internet. Co-developed the IP telephony system. Eliminated ICT equipment downtime. Coordinated procurement, maintenance, and upgrade of hardware and software systems and provided user support. Show less

  • Project Manager ► GSM Site Acquisition

    Jul 2010 - Mar 2011

  • Team Leader

    Aug 2009 - Jun 2010
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  FIG

  Mar 2011 - Jan 2012

  Consultant ► EMR Measurements

  --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Conducted Electro-Magnetic Radiation (EMR) measurements on GSM/UMTS Base Stations in line with ICNIRP (International Committee on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protocol) standards.

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  Airtel

  Apr 2011 - Nov 2013

  Field Operations Engineer

  Airtel Networks Kenya Limited is part of Bharti Airtel Limited, a leading global telecommunications company with operations in 20 countries across Asia and Africa.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I earned a promotion from the gold-rated Mombasa region to the platinum-rated Nairobi region and to a second-level transmission support role to provide support to 75 base operations, performing troubleshooting, response, and remedial resolution on GSM and NODE B base stations.Key Roles and Successes: Maintained network uptime by performing regular preventive equipment maintenance at GSM base stations and ensuring alarms are operational. Performed troubleshooting on SDH and PDH faults, and solution provisioning to BSC and RNC levels. Prevented equipment downtime by performing general site maintenance on air conditioning units, generators, and the general environment. Expanded network and transmission routing for 40 3G and 2G sites in Nairobi. Conducted upgrade from legacy Microwave links and Base Transceiver stations by spearheading commissioning and site acceptance of 28 Airtel Network’s NODE B (Nokia Siemens Network Equipment Sites) and 48 Flexi Hybrid Microwave links in Mombasa. Commissioned equipment upgrade from Alcatel Evolium BTS to Nokia Siemens Flexi Edge BTS and Flexi Multiradio for 2G network. Attained 99% average Radio Network Availability (RNA) on 27 2G Network Service Nodes (NSNs) and 27 NSN Node B, across Airtel Kenya Network sites. Performed troubleshooting and maintenance on the Base Station Controller (BSC) and Radio Network Controller (RNC) of Nokia’s Mobile Switching Center in Mombasa. Show less

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  OUTSOURCE TECHNIQUE LIMITED

  Nov 2013 - Oct 2015

  High Level Support Engineer, Transmission ► Nokia Solutions and Networks

  Outsource Technique Limited provides leading telecommunication service providers with electrical installations, telecommunications, HVAC services, and energy solutions.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I steered network installation, upgrade, maintenance, troubleshooting, and resolution in Central Kenya and across the country, and provided user support.Key Roles and Successes: Provided onsite and remote second-level support to 48 field engineers in Central Kenya and across the country. Improved network efficiency through regular maintenance, links redundancy tests, and resolutions. Troubleshot and rectified failures on BSC Highways, SDH/SONET links, and international traffic. Performed migration of Airtel Kenya network of 658 2G and 3G sites, from Ericsson to Nokia BTS and the integration of mcRNC, mcBSC, and Juniper MX104 within 10 weeks. Overhauled access network aggregation in Central Kenya by removing single point of failures, increasing 3G Radio Network Availability (RNA) from 98.2% to 99.5%. Optimized route resilience for key HSL, GB, and OSS (BSC Supervision Circuits) in Central Kenya by eliminating service outage. Trimmed CAPEX by $40 000 to $50 000 through legacy SDH link and recovered equipment to perform path redundancies for 14 VSAT stations. Set up Sub-Network Connection Protection (SNCP) on previously unconnected STM 16 link in Nairobi, boosted resilience across 20+s in Nairobi and on BSC highways to Western Kenya, as well as on international traffic barriers. Show less

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  Nokia Networks

  Oct 2015 - now

  Transmission Optimization Engineer

  Nokia Networks Limited is a multinational data networking and telecommunications equipment company with operations in over 120 countries.--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------I manage enterprise-wide transmission interventions (both onsite and remote) across the Airtel network, drive technology roadmaps and projects, and provide technical user support. Key Roles & Successes: Steering ongoing implementation of QoS on Microwave and IPRAN networks. Leading countrywide implementation of IPRAN project on the Airtel network. Configuring packet-Abis 2G, 3G, and LTE sites on the IPRAN network. Dimensioning, routing, and integrating Airtel Corporate Client Services within existing network. Performing Microwave bandwidth upgrades, route diversification, and Microwave redundancy on fiber point-to-point links between access and hub sites. Conducting troubleshooting and failure rectification on IPRAN Network, Microwave SDH/SONET links, and international traffic to optimize performance, resilience, and uptime. Performing Add-Drop Multiplexers (ADP) dimensioning to allow redundancy and optimal use, and prevent single points of failure in major hubs and at Base Station Controllers (BSCs). Elevated Microwave visibility on Network Management Systems from 57% to 94%. Preventing and resolving congestion on network through network utilization reporting and surveillance of access and backbone microwave links. Establishing minimum route to cost on existing/new links. Show less