1. Who are you?
I am Lei Wan Tun, originally from Myanmar (also known as Burma), a beautiful country in Southeast Asia known for its rich culture, pagodas, vibrant festivals like Thingyan (Water Festival), delicious tea-leaf salads and diverse ethnic traditions. I am now live in Hinna.
2. How was your experience moving to a new country and starting your career at Tampnet?
Moving to Norway was both exciting and challenging! Adapting to a new culture, weather and cuisine were an enjoyable experience. My team was incredibly supportive, which made the transition smoother. Everyone at Tampnet helped me in many ways. I’ve grown both personally and professionally, and I’m grateful for the opportunity.
3. Can you describe your background?
I completed my Bachelor’s degree in Computer Technology from University of Computer Studies, Yangon (UCSY). And then, I secured a position as an Assistant Engineer (Network Support) at my first Company, then worked as Core BO SME Engineer for EPC Network at Ananda Company. I joined as a Network Engineer at Tampnet in January 2024.
4. What is your current role in the company?
Network Engineer, a member of the Core, Cloud Software team, in Mobile Department.
5. What does a typical day in your role look like?
A typical day involves HPE PMEC, Microsoft Core and Mavenir Core project. I usually start with checking urgent tasks, then dive into morning checks and alerts, operation tasks, RFC and troubleshooting. I often sync with my manager to align on priorities.
6. What inspired you to pursue the career you did?
Growing up in Myanmar, I witnessed firsthand how mobile connectivity transformed lives—bridging gaps in communication, education, and business. During my engineering studies, I became fascinated by telecom technologies, which were rapidly expanding across our region. A pivotal moment came during my internship at a local ISP, where I observed how core networks like the Evolved Packet Core (EPC) enable seamless connectivity.
In my country, there are few women working as Core Network Engineers in the telecom industry. Yet, mobile networks are lifelines for communities, and I wanted to contribute to building that infrastructure—not only technically but also as proof that women belong in this field. That’s why I pursued this career, and the more I learn, the more passionate and curious I become.
7. What’s the best part of working in your team? What is your team like?
My team is incredibly collaborative and diverse. The best part is how we support each other—whether it’s brainstorming ideas or troubleshooting issues.
8. What’s the most exciting task/project you’ve worked on?
The most exciting project was the migration of our LTE core network from Huawei to Microsoft's Affirmed solution. This wasn't simply a vendor change - it represented a complete architectural transformation that future-proofed our network for 4G evolution and beyond.
What made this exciting was that our entire team successfully moved to the new Microsoft core architecture without relying on Huawei support. Following months of intense testing, acceptance testing protocols (ATP), and yes, many late nights, we finally accomplished the most important goal: a perfect migration with zero downtime. Every challenging moment was worth it when we saw the new system performing seamlessly!
9. What is one of your favourite memories of your time at Tampnet?
I could never pick just one favourite memory - all my experiences at Tampnet have been wonderful. But if I had to highlight something, it would be our social gatherings. Those moments of team bonding were always my favourite part.
10. What are your future career goals or aspirations within engineering?
I aim to progress into a lead engineering role, specializing in cloud-native core networks and 5G integration to develop scalable telecom solutions. I'm particularly interested in mentoring junior engineers and driving sustainable network innovations.
11. Is there a project, technology, or trend in the engineering field that particularly excites you right now?
Currently, I'm most excited about our transition to Mavenir Core project.
The opportunity to work with containerized network functions (CNFs) is especially interesting because it is changing how we create agile, cost-effective mobile cores for the 5G era.