What is a RAN engineer?

Answer 1

RAN stands for Radio Access Network. A RAN Engineer generally works for a wireless carrier, such as T-Mobile, AT&T, Sprint, or Verizon. They deal with the air interface part of the network, so their responsibilities could involve finding tower locations and having cell sites built, designing the frequency plan, selecting antennas and downtilts, and finally optimizing the network. They are the ones that research and correct your dropped calls and try to eliminate No Service areas. They also monitor traffic and try to grow the network as needed to accommodate all the users. Remember that cell phones are just little radios that talk to big radios (cell sites); a good RAN engineer minimizes interference and creates the best experience for the customer. They work with Switch, Core, Translations, Network, Construction, and Field Engineers. RAN engineering is a very specific field; if you are interested, obtain an Electrical Engineering degree.