Fast Track Telecoms Mini MBA

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Many employees do not progress in their careers as fast or as far as they would like. This is often due to a lack of commercial, financial and strategic knowledge. This course is designed to provide participants with a broad, holistic view of the business from a financial, commercial and strategic context. The course explains the essential financial terms and knowledge that employees require in order to have meaningful business conversations with their colleagues and members of the senior management team.

*Please note this course is not included in our 5G and Essentials Technologies Package option.

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£300.00 (for 6 months access)
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Think Like a CEO

Topic areas covered include:

  • How a business is funded
    • Sources of capital – debt and equity
    • Angel investors and venture capital
    • Banks and lenders
    • Company ownership
  • Risk and Return
    • Defining financial risk
    • The risk profile of the different providers of capital
    • The relationship between risk and return
  • What is an appropriate return on investment?
    • Making your own personal investment decisions
    • Assessing appropriate levels of return
    • The next best alternative of similar risk and the relationship to returns
  • What is the Weighted Average Cost of Capital?
    • Providers of capital and their relative return expectations
    • Calculating the Weighted Average Cost of Capital
  • How do you value a company?
    • The importance of cash in assessing the value of any company
    • The value of any business
  • How do you calculate Free Cash Flow
    • The definition of Free Cash Flow
    • Free Cash Flow as a surplus and the provision of returns to the providers of capital
  • Understanding Enterprise Value
    • The relationship between Free Cash Flow and company valuation
    • Defining Enterprise Value and the relationship to the providers of capital
    • Calculating Equity Value
  • Summary so far in thinking like a CEO
    • A summary of the concepts discussed so far in the programme
  • So what is the share price and how does a CEO make it go up?
    • Equity value and the share price
    • The role of financial markets
    • How a CEO can impact the share price
  • How does a CEO create shareholder value in practice?
    • The economics of markets
    • Competition, returns and the ability to create shareholder value
    • The importance of barriers to entry
  • The CEO and Strategy
    • The concept of competitive advantage
    • The criteria necessary for competitive advantage and barriers to entry
    • The link between strategy and value creation
  • Think like a CEO Summary
    • A summary of the key ideas from the programme
Developing Financial Literacy

Topic areas covered include:

  • The very basics
    • Introducing the ideas of revenues, costs and capital expenditure
    • Defining a Fixed Asset
      • Ownership
      • Business support
      • Financial limits
    • The importance of cash in business performance
  • Introducing the Financial Statements
    • An overview of the three key financial statements
    • The key features of the Profit and Loss, Balance Sheet and Cash Flow Statement
    • The difference between the Balance Sheet and the other financial statements
  • The Profit and Loss
    • The key entries of the Profit and Loss
    • Timing issues and the difference between cash and profits
    • A detailed review of
      • Revenue
      • Cost of Sales
      • Gross Profit
      • Operating Costs and
      • EBITDA
  • The obsession with EBITDA
    • The importance of EBITDA to the telecoms sector
    • The key characteristics of EBITDA
  • The Balance Sheet
    • An overview of the Balance Sheet
    • The difference between assets and liabilities
    • The intuition behind why Balance Sheets balance
  • Exploring Assets
    • Revisiting the definition of assets
    • A review of Assets
    • Fixed Assets
      • Tangible and Intangible assets
    • Fixed Assets within the telecoms sector
    • Current Assets
      • Cash
      • Debtors or Accounts Receivable
      • Stock or Inventory
  • Exploring Liabilities
    • Defining a liability
    • Long term and current liabilities
    • Using the Balance Sheet to calculate the Capital Employed for a business
  • The Cash Flow Statement
    • The key features of the cash flow statement
    • The difference between EBITDA and Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities
    • Capital Expenditure and the Cash Flow Statement
    • Financial cash flows
  • Measuring Performance
    • A review of the Key Performance Indicators in the telecoms industry
      • Average Revenue per User
      • EBITDA Margin
      • Capex to Sales
      • Operating Free Cash Flow margin
    • Typical levels of performance and benchmarks for the KPIs
  • Back to Free Cash Flow
    • The relationship between the financial statements and Free Cash Flow
    • How the financial statements can be used to calculate Free Cash Flow
Accounting, Economics and Strategy

Topic areas covered include:

  • The accruals concept
    • The principles of accounting
    • An explanation of the matching or accruals concept
  • Double Entry Bookkeeping
    • The principles of double entry bookkeeping
    • Double entry bookkeeping and the its role in applying the matching or accruals concept to the accounting for Fixed Assets
    • The different approaches to calculating depreciation and amortisation
  • Straight Line Depreciation and the Useful Economic Life of Assets
    • The application of straight-line depreciation
    • The idea of the Useful Economic Life and typical UELs in the telecoms sector
  • Double entry bookkeeping for depreciation
    • The double entry bookkeeping entries for capital expenditure, fixed assets and depreciation
    • Defining the Net Book Value of assets
    • Explaining the difference between amortisation and depreciation
  • Depreciation, cash and EBITDA
    • Depreciation and its relationship to cash
    • Depreciation and the ability to manipulate profits through the choice of accounting assumptions
    • Depreciation and why the telecoms industry is obsessed with EBITDA
  • Operating Profit and Net Profit
    • A detailed look at the later entries in the Profit and Loss
    • Depreciation and amortisation charges and EBIT
    • Interest payments and EBT or PBT
    • Tax payments and Profit After Tax
    • Definitions of Operating Profit and Net Profit and why these terms should be used with care
  • The Bottom Line
    • Defining Profit After Tax and Earnings
    • Earning Per Share and its relationship to dividends and the share price
  • The Cost Structure of the Telecoms Industry
    • Revisiting the difference between cost of sales and operating costs
    • The costs associated with simply running a mobile network
    • The incremental costs associated with generating revenue
    • Relative levels of fixed and variable costs
  • Economies of Scale
    • The idea of operational gearing and economies of scale
    • The cost structure of a mobile network operator compared to a virtual mobile network operator
    • Growth in revenues and profits in the presence of economies of scale
    • The devastating effect of economies of scale for mature and declining telecoms markets
  • Economies of Scale and Strategic Choices
    • The three strategic implications of economies of scale in the telecoms sector
      • The cost base
      • Market share
      • Managing the structure of costs
    • Evaluating strategic choices in the context of industry returns
      • Increasing revenues
      • Reducing costs
      • Reducing net assets
      • Reducing working capital
Technology, Economics and Strategy

Topic areas covered include:

  • A simple overview of a telecommunications network
    • Telecoms networks and their relationship to financial performance
    • An overview of a telecoms networks
    • Different types of fixed and wireless technologies
  • Different wired and wireless network technologies
    • Fixed networks – copper, cable and fibre
    • Wireless networks – satellite, microwave and mobile
  • The Last Mile or Local Loop and natural monopolies
    • What is the last mile or local loop
    • The last mile, fixed networks and natural monopolies
    • The economics of fibre deployments
  • The difference between circuit and pack switched networks
    • What is a circuit switched network
    • Circuit switched networks, voice traffic and efficiency
    • The nature of data traffic
    • Packet switched networks
    • Mobile phone technology generations and circuit and switched networks
  • Understanding spectrum
    • What is spectrum
    • What are the different types of spectrum
    • What is a Hertz
  • The different types of spectrum used by wireless companies
    • The spectrum used by mobile companies
    • The role of the ITU in coordinating the use of spectrum
    • Device capabilities and the economics of harmonisation
  • The difference between paired and unpaired spectrum
    • Understanding paired spectrum
    • Understanding unpaired spectrum
  • Understanding the idea of a radio carrier
    • What do engineers mean when they talk about a carrier
    • How do carriers differ between different technologies
  • A summary of the key points so far
    • A review of the key points from the previous sessions
  • The costs of building a network
    • Different types of environment from urban to rural
    • Different types of site from macro to pico
    • What are the main cost elements of building a network
  • Spectrum holdings and competitive advantage
    • Low frequency spectrum and coverage benefits
    • The quantity of spectrum and capacity benefits
    • Contiguous spectrum and speed benefits
  • Networks and strategic implications
    • Economics and the last mile
    • Economics and population density
    • Economics, content and pipes
Strategic Thinking

Topic areas covered include:

  • What is strategy
    • The challenges in defining strategy
    • Strategy and shareholder value
    • The different approaches to developing strategy
    • Strategy development in the telecoms sector
  • Uncertainty and PESTEL Analysis
    • Uncertainty in the telecoms sector
    • PESTEL analysis
    • Scenario planning
    • The importance and challenges of planning in the face of uncertainty
  • Scenario planning
    • What are scenarios
    • A scenario planning process
    • The pros and cons of scenario planning
  • Porter’s Five Forces Analysis
    • Introducing Porter’s Five Forces
    • Five Forces analysis in the context of the telecoms sector
  • The Value Chain
    • What is the Value Chain
    • What strategic choices must telcos make in relation to content
  • Competitor and SWOT Analysis
    • How to analyse competitors
    • SWOT analysis
  • The Boston Consulting Group Matrix
    • Introducing the Boston Consulting Group matrix
    • The BCG Matrix and strategic choices
    • The BCG Matrix in the context of the telecoms sector
  • Resources, competencies and the VRIO framework
    • Defining core competencies and resources
    • The VRIO framework
    • The VRIO framework and competitive advantage
  • Porter’s generic strategies – differentiation and cost leadership
    • Introduction to Porter’s generic strategies
    • Generic strategies in the context of the telecoms sector
  • Formulating and developing strategy
    • The “dirty little secret” of strategic planning
    • The Ansoff matrix
    • Three horizons model
Decision Making and Investment Appraisal

Topic areas covered include:

  • The decision-making process
    • The typical decision-making process used by telecoms companies
    • Decision making in the digital era
    • Overview of the standard investment appraisal techniques
  • Rubbish In – Rubbish Out; what to include in a business case
    • The first principles of investment appraisal
    • Revenues, costs and capex
    • Cannibalisation
    • Opportunity cost
    • Allocated overheads
    • Sunk costs
    • Finance charges
  • Understanding pay back
    • Defining payback
    • The pros and cons of payback
  • Compound interest and discounting
    • What is compound interest
    • What is discounting
  • Discounted Cash Flow Analysis and Net Present Value
    • The mechanics of discounted cash flow analysis
    • What is the Net Present Value
    • Net Present Value and decision making
    • The pros and cons of Discounted Cash Flow Analysis
  • Introducing risk and the return of the WACC
    • Selecting the Discount Rate
    • The role of the WACC
  • The impact of budget constraints
    • Decision making in the face of limited cash
  • The internal rate of return
    • Defining the concept of the Internal Rate of Return
    • The Internal Rate of Return in decision making
    • The pros and cons of the Internal Rate of Return
  • Summary
    • A summary of the key points on decision making