China Telecom Corporation, Ltd.

CASE STUDY

China Telecom Corporation, Ltd.

PMI standards used to develop communications network for city
China Telecom Corporation Limited (China Telecom) is the have to make changes and modifications mid-project which,
world’s largest landline telecommunications and broadband in turn, impacted the overall schedule.
services provider. Covering cities and towns as well as the
rural areas of China, China Telecom has more than 220 million The Nanshan District Optical Fiber Network consisted of
landline subscribers and more than 35 million broadband six optical fiber networks: government, education, health,
subscribers, and penetrates every corner of the world. network, community network, and politics and law network,
all of which were connected to the three levels of Nanshan
Shenzhen Telecom, a wholly owned subsidiary of China District government, sub-district offices and communities.
Telecom in Shenzhen city has successfully leveraged PMI Having this many networks posed a challenge as the Shenzhen
guidelines to manage one of the company’s largest and most project team needed to ensure that activities associated with
successful projects, which would later be deemed the “No. 1 each unit were appropriately coordinated with the greater
Project” for Shenzhen Telecom in 2006. team.

The complexity and scope of the project itself presented

Background a challenge for the team as well. Due to the vast size
In May 2006, Shenzhen Telecom won the bid to develop of the project, Shenzhen Telecom had to involve 10
the communications network for Shenzhen city’s Nanshan different departments within the company and required
District of China, a project that would connect government the participation of numerous related units of design,
offices, neighborhoods, schools and community healthcare construction and supervision, which necessitated immense
service centers. Shenzhen Telecom was tasked to extend organization and management. These units would have to
optical fibers throughout the area with the goal of improving oversee the laying of more than 426 new routes of optical
the government’s ability to serve its people and promote fibers to create the network for the Nanshan District, and
seamless and effective communication. the project execution required difficult coordination and
mandatory approvals that threatened the project’s pre-
The China Telecom Shenzhen project team began work on
determined timeline and schedule. Additionally, with so many
the Nanshan District on July 6, 2006, over a year after they
individuals involved in such a complex project, there was a
won the bid, and aimed to complete the project by November
high risk of communication failures.
of 2006. The total contract amount for the project was
US$3 million.
Solutions
Challenges To ensure that the Nanshan District project was completed
on time and within the boundaries set by the District, the
The Nanshan District project presented various challenges
Shenzhen project team utilized standards defined by PMI to
for the Shenzhen project team. Staying on schedule was a
ensure successful collaboration and project management.
primary concern as the signing of the contract, which would
officially launch the project, was completed late in the Due to the immense scope of the Nanshan District Network,
schedule. Due to the delay of the contract, the team initiated the leaders of Shenzhen Telecom attached great importance
the project according to the information in the letter of to the project, terming it the “No. 1 Project,” and formed a
intent, which posed some problems as the letter of intent and Project Management Committee, which would give the China
the actual contract differed slightly. This caused the team to Telecom team structure and standardized processes. Under
the committee, there was a Client Coordination Team, Project
China Telecom Corporation, Ltd.

Construction Team and Deployment & Delivery Team, which Results

formed a project management organizational structure that
The Nanshan District Network project was successfully
built a sound management platform.
completed on November 28, 2006—ahead of the team’s
To ensure timely and effective communication, the team target completion date. Through the use of proven project
launched the “No. 1 Project Mailbox,” which provided a management ideologies, the China Telecom team was not
platform for the team to share updates surrounding logistical only able to keep the project on schedule, but it was also able
information, ongoing activities and scheduling, and gave to execute activities effectively and efficiently.
all the individuals involved full visibility into the project. In
Given that they were so pleased with the execution and
addition, the project team ensured effective communication
outcome of the project, the Nanshan District government
by fully leveraging traditional project management
awarded Shenzhen Telecom with a pennant for its
communication means such as coordinating routine meetings
performance.
to discuss project initiatives and developing weekly reports to
track project progress. In addition to the great results and benefits that the Nanshan
District achieved, the project also produced significant
Communication was also strengthened with the development
economic and social benefits for Shenzhen Telecom. In fact,
of a “unified client communication interface,” which was
the success of the project has enhanced Shenzhen Telecom’s
a system where various Shenzhen Telecom centers had a
credibility as the top communications provider, truly making
designated Nanshan District channel contact as the interface
the Nanshan District Network project the undisputable “No. 1
for communication with the client. This helped improve
Project” for Shenzhen Telecom in 2006-2007.
client satisfaction because each individual Nanshan District
Network was given exclusive attention so communications
regarding changes and other issues were efficiently and Key achievements
successfully addressed.
■■ The China Telecom Shenzhen project team was able to
The project documentation processes put in place also helped complete the project successfully and within the pre-
ensure things ran smoothly as it enabled the team to review determined timeline.
the progress of each activity and identify scheduling and
■■ The Nanshan District government was so pleased with
budget problems before they became unmanageable. As part
the delivery and execution of the project that it awarded
of the documentation process, specific team members were
a pennant to Shenzhen Telecom.
appointed to take charge of managing the documents and
project logs were developed and refreshed regularly. This, in ■■ The development of the “unified client communication
turn, kept the team on task and effectively controlled the interface” was the first of its kind for a large Shenzhen
many moving parts of the project. Telecom client and marked a “best practice” program
that will be applied to large Shenzhen Telecom clients
To further ensure that the project stayed on schedule and
moving forward.
ran smoothly, the Shenzhen project team took measures
to anticipate difficulties in meeting the project schedule ■■ Shenzhen Telecom strictly enforced project
and then created plans and programs to overcome those management standards and processes, which effectively
potential issues. For example, using proven PMI standards controlled the impact of mid-project changes with the
and principles, the team addressed the anticipated schedule final control ratio maintained at 22.8 percent.
difficulties by instituting a program in which the performance
progress of each unit associated with the project was made
visible across all units and top performers were publicly
recognized. This inspired the team to stay on task and work
hard to achieve both personal and team success. Additionally,
during the last phase of the project, the team launched the
“No. 1 Project War Room,” which released a daily countdown
report to create a sense of urgency and fulfillment among
team members, further helping them meet the project
schedule.

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