What exactly does the Communications Design Institute do?

Speaking of the Communications Design Institute, I believe many people have heard of it.

We often see the names of various design institutes in news reports, such as China Unicom Design Institute, China Mobile Design Institute, and so on.

Recently, campus recruitment has started in various places. Some students have received offers from design institutes, so they asked me, what exactly does a design institute do?

Today, I will introduce you to this mysterious organization.

What does the Communication Design Institute do?

In fact, there are many design institutes in China, such as architectural design institutes, power design institutes, urban planning design institutes, and so on.

These design institutes have different qualifications such as A, B, C, and D (A is best), and specialize in undertaking the preliminary consultation, planning and design, engineering survey, engineering management, engineering supervision, engineering testing, cost consulting, environmental impact assessment and other tasks for various engineering projects. Sometimes they also undertake the general contracting and subcontracting of engineering construction.

The Communications Design Institute is one of the many design institutes in China that specializes in projects in the communications industry and engages in the above work.

The above may be a bit abstract. In fact, to be specific, the employees of the Communication Design Institute have only a few basic tasks: drawing blueprints, filling out forms, doing arithmetic, conducting surveys, and writing materials.

Drawing means drawing with CAD and producing design drawings. Filling out forms means filling in the content and data in the form template. Doing arithmetic means calculating the cost and making a rough budget. Surveying means going to the project site to conduct a survey. Writing materials means writing construction plans, consulting reports, bids, etc.

Simply put, it's like doing odd jobs.

The original intention of establishing the Communication Design Institute is to relieve the worries of Party A, control the progress of the project, control the quality of the project, and prevent the engineering unit (equipment supplier) from violating the construction regulations or cutting corners. We can think of it as Party A's "little secretary" or "housekeeper", playing the role of lubricant.

During the implementation of the project, the Communications Design Institute should provide guidance and supervision to the construction personnel based on its own professional capabilities.

However, China's communications industry is very different from other industries (such as construction). After decades of development, the parties A and B in China's communications industry have become increasingly powerful in terms of professional technology and project experience. As a result, the A party has become increasingly powerful, and the B party has become increasingly savvy.

Therefore, the status of design institutes in China's communications industry is constantly declining. To put it bluntly, they are struggling to survive in the cracks.

There are many communication design institutes in China. Those who have a backer and can cling to someone powerful can live a comfortable life. Those who don't have a backer can only survive in humiliation.

The industry is involuted, low-price competition, and profits are getting slimmer. Party A is strong, and we do whatever we are told to do, with short deadlines, heavy tasks, low costs, lots of overtime, and a lot of business trips.

Party B, who has strong technical capabilities and rich project experience, not only disdains the guidance of the design institute, but often guides the design institute instead. Party B does not trust the design institute's drawings, and does not look down on them, and often complains about them.

As time goes by, China's communications design institutes have sometimes become a bit meaningless, just for the sake of going through the process.

What are the communication design institutes in China?

According to incomplete statistics, there are about 30 communications design institutes in China, employing more than 10,000 people.

Next, I will give you a brief introduction to the history and background of these design institutes.

China's earliest communications design institute was the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Design Institute, which was founded in Beijing in 1952 and was directly under the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications.

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By the end of the 1960s, the country was carrying out the Third Front Construction (to prevent Soviet invasion) and moved a large number of important enterprises to the inland areas. The Design Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications also moved to Zhengzhou, Henan (1969).

At that time, a small number of people did not leave Beijing but chose to stay.

In 1979, some departments of Zhengzhou Design Institute returned to Beijing and, together with some Beijing employees, formed the Beijing Design Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications. At that time, the finances of Beijing and Zhengzhou were separate and they operated independently.

Because it is located in the capital Beijing, the Beijing Design Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has developed rapidly. In 1991, it officially broke away from the direct management of the Zhengzhou Institute and became a department-level unit. In 1994, the Beijing Design Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications was registered with the State Administration for Industry and Commerce, and its registered name was Zhongjing Post and Telecommunications Design Institute. In 1999, it was renamed the Beijing Design Institute of the Ministry of Information Industry.

In 2001, the Beijing Institute was restructured into an enterprise and joined China Mobile. In September 2006, according to the unified requirements of China Mobile Group, it was renamed China Mobile Communications Group Design Institute Co., Ltd., referred to as "China Mobile Design Institute".

Let's look back at Zhengzhou Institute. Before 1998, Zhengzhou Institute had always been the main communications research institute in China. Since optical cable trunk line and other projects were contracted by Zhengzhou Institute, its performance was very good and it lived a good life. Zhengzhou Institute also produced many talents, including Zhao Houlin, the current Secretary-General of ITU, who came from Zhengzhou Institute.

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Design Institute of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications in 1992

In 1999, the Zhengzhou Institute was renamed the Ministry of Information Industry Post and Telecommunications Design Institute. In 2002, it was renamed Zhongxun Post and Telecommunications Consulting and Design Institute. In 2003, it was transferred to the management of the State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission. In the first half of 2006, it was merged into China Unicom as a subsidiary. In September 2008, it completed the company registration and was renamed Zhongxun Post and Telecommunications Consulting and Design Institute Co., Ltd., and its headquarters moved back to Beijing.

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The first floor exhibition hall of Zhongxun Design Institute on Shouti South Road, Beijing

After introducing China Mobile Design Institute and China Unicom Design Institute, let’s take a look at China Telecom.

The main direct line of China Telecom is the Communication Service Design Institute.

Everyone knows China Communications Services Corporation, right? Its full name is China Communications Services Corporation Limited, which is the largest telecommunications infrastructure service group in China. The three major operators are both its shareholders and its customers. Among them, China Telecom holds more than half of the shares.

The history of China Unicom is a bit complicated, so I will introduce it to you in detail another day. Anyway, it is a hodgepodge company that includes telecommunications assets from various provinces.

There are about a dozen design institutes in the telecommunications sector, including the provincial post and telecommunications planning and design institutes under each province. These design institutes not only accept work from China Telecom, but also from China Mobile and China Unicom. Among them, Jiangsu (China Telecom Consulting and Design Institute), Zhejiang (Huaxin Consulting and Design Institute), Guangdong, and Shanghai are relatively strong.

Oh, by the way, China Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd. was acquired by China Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd. in 2008. China Communications Construction Group Co., Ltd. also has a subsidiary called China Communications Construction Group Design Institute.

In addition to the three major operators, there are also some other design institutes, such as Jiesai, Huatong, Jida, etc.

The future direction of the Communication Design Institute

As mentioned above, the current development of domestic communication design institutes is not very optimistic. Surviving in the cracks, life is getting more and more difficult.

Therefore, various communications design institutes are also exploring future development paths.

Generally speaking, it mainly includes three directions.

First, go to sea.

A few years ago, some design institutes bravely went abroad to find work in Asia, Africa, and Latin America. Some were general contractors, while others were simple subcontractors, and they could make a little money.

Second, transformation.

In line with the country's vigorous efforts to develop new infrastructure and carry out digital transformation in recent years, many design institutes have also begun to pay attention to vertical industry projects for government and enterprises, such as smart cities, smart transportation, smart education, smart logistics, etc.

There are a large number of these projects, and the level of the second party is uneven, so the demand for design institutes is even stronger. Some design institutes participate in these projects, helping with planning and design, as well as engineering supervision, which seems to be a good way out.

Just a few days ago, China Mobile Design Institute established China Mobile Digital Technology Co., Ltd., which is aimed at digital transformation and intends to cooperate specifically with China Mobile to leverage the big cake of the industry's Internet.

Third, mixed reform.

Mixed ownership reform of design institutes is a trend across China. Other industries are also carrying out mixed ownership reform of design institutes.

After China Unicom launched mixed-ownership reform, its subsidiary China Information Design Institute also followed this path.

In the future, I believe that more design institutes will explore the feasibility of mixed-ownership reform.

In short, as a product of China's historical development, the Communication Design Institute will continue to exist. However, relying solely on the client's thighs cannot maintain the long-term development of the design institute.

The times are changing rapidly. If the Communications Design Institute does not change, it will be eliminated by the times.

Where should the Communication Design Institute go?