- Report this article
Ning Chong
Ning Chong
Recruitment Manager @ Juhler Professionals Singapore | Hiring, Executive Search 27k+++
Published Aug 14, 2017
+ Follow
In Ning's layman terms;
Every industry has a ‘classification’ or a ‘rating’ system. Sometimes these labels are official; other times they’re just unofficial ways to describe a company’s size and abilities. For example, small companies often call themselves ‘boutique’, while larger ones make their ‘significant’ size known. While these general labels are helpful, the IT and Telecommunication industry has a very specific rating system. ICT firms are classified as ‘tier 1’, ‘tier 2’, or ‘tier 3’, and since that doesn’t really give much information away, I thought I will explain what those terms mean.
What’s the difference?
The tier system isn’t a difficult one to wrap your head around – it’s actually quite logical. Basically, the telecom companies are rated according to their capacity to take certain projects. The size, resources, experience, and of course, money a company has determined the kind of projects they are able to take on, and therefore what ‘tier’ group they fall in to. In layman’s terms, tier 1 companies are the big guns, and the tier 3 ones are the more modest firms. Over time, companies can move up the tiers if they fit the criteria.
Now, let’s explore the different tiers a little more.
Tier 1
Tier 1 firms are the largest, wealthiest, and most experienced in the industry. This tier is so exclusive, in fact, that there are only a few main telco players! Here’s the breakdown:
These companies take on major commercial projects such as motorways, railways, hospitals, universities, office towers, shopping centers and the like. They have the expertise, resources, and finances to take on such large-scale projects. Tier one contracts are usually in the hundreds of millions and even billions price range.
Tier 2
Mid-tier companies are still key players in the ICT industry. As the name suggests, they are somewhere in between tier 1 and 3. As a general rule, tier 2 companies are more likely to take on commercial (rather than residential) projects. NCS, Citic is a tier 2 company (Singtel is both tier 1 and 2, Ask Ning Why), education, heritage, retail, and industrial projects. Sometimes the lines can be blurred for a company between tier 1 and 2. But they can be tier 1 with tier 2 salary.
Tier 3
Now that you know a little bit about the tier ratings, you can probably guess that tier 3 companies take on the smaller projects. There are a lot more of them around, and they have plenty of work to keep them busy. Tier 3 firms usually take on projects around the million-dollar range to 15,000 USD; sometimes a little more, sometimes a little less. The types of projects they take on are:
- Sizeable residential jobs, including smaller enterprise network installation and stores.
- Small-scale commercial work, such as building or petrol stations, supermarkets, offices, and places like McDonald's.
These companies are essential to the industry, and they build up their portfolio with this type of work. They then have the opportunity to start moving up the tier ladder.
Help improve contributions
Mark contributions as unhelpful if you find them irrelevant or not valuable to the article. This feedback is private to you and won’t be shared publicly.
Contribution hidden for you
This feedback is never shared publicly, we’ll use it to show better contributions to everyone.
Like
Celebrate
Support
Love
Insightful
Funny
206
15 Comments
Athena Zamiri
Mechanical Engineer with experience in HVAC designing and project managing
8mo
- Report this comment
Really helpful. thank you.
1Reaction
Mark Billy Pablo Hernández
Electronic Engineer (electronics with instrumentation and control)
9mo
- Report this comment
Thanks for this information!
1Reaction
Swapnil Manjrekar 🇮🇳✨✨
I'm an HR by profession having 10 years of rich experience in Talent Acquisition, Employee Engagement, Employee Counselling, Employee Relations, Bulk Induction, HR Policy.
2y
- Report this comment
Thank you so much for your valuable information, very grateful to you. 🙏
1Reaction 2Reactions
Sushank Singh
--
3y
- Report this comment
Would any one send the list of Tear 1 and 2 organizations at shashank.k@lecansolutions.com or sushank059@gmail.com
1Reaction
Rahul N.
R&D Professional | Experienced in 3D CAD, Production Drawing, and Web Development
3y
- Report this comment
Hello, I want to know, where can I see the list of tier 1, 2, 3 companies, or in other words is there any website or organization which gives the 'tier' labels to companies
4Reactions 5Reactions
See more comments
To view or add a comment, sign in
More articles by this author
No more previous content
- Senior Account Manager - Public Sector such as aviation, maritime, land transport Nov 10, 2023
- Technical Support Engineer (Entry Level) Nov 3, 2023
- Business Development Executive (Sanitary Ware) + MEP required Oct 9, 2023
- Senior Finance Executive Sep 14, 2023
- Project Solution Manager - Security and Surveillance Industry Aug 18, 2023
- Account Manager (TELCO/SI) Aug 8, 2023
- Construction technology - Bim Coordinator Aug 8, 2023
- Sales Director, SOC/SIEM - Malaysia Aug 8, 2023
- Technical Support Engineer (Surveillance Security) Aug 8, 2023
- SOC Analyst L2 – Kuala Lumpur Aug 8, 2023
No more next content
Sign in
Stay updated on your professional world
Sign in
By clicking Continue to join or sign in, you agree to LinkedIn’s User Agreement, Privacy Policy, and Cookie Policy.
New to LinkedIn? Join now
Insights from the community
- Office Administration How do you classify and index documents for user-friendly access?
- Software Engineering What are the key considerations for negotiating a severance package in Software Engineering?
- Office Administration What are the best practices for accurately classifying and indexing documents?
Others also viewed
- Things I noticed companies still do in the 21st Century Ella van Zutphen 6y
- Observations and Musings of a Technology Interim Steve Compton 7y
- Top 5 Reasons IT Staffs are Suffering and the Simplest Solution. David Ross Nahrvar 9y
- On Contractor Day Rates Jonathan Sedar 4y
- In complexity we trust Paul Ayers 7y
- Should we scrap the terms essential and non-essential? Krista Gleason 4y
- 10 Important Expectations when Hiring Consultants GESGRP 1y
- New Webinar - Pay Ratio Disclosure! Craig Eastland 6y
- Disconnected in times of connectivity SHARDUL B. 6y
- Don't shoot the messenger - it's not my article - but worth a view and consideration: "I don't like it but can I tell him he's factually incorrect" Nigel R. Benson 8y
Explore topics
- Sales
- Marketing
- Business Administration
- HR Management
- Content Management
- Engineering
- Soft Skills
- See All