On the trail of misconnected telephone wires

Michel Tralcio has been working as a "dépanneur" at Post for 15 years. The technician fixes breakdowns and the 40-year-old describes his work like detective work: "You have to find out which cable is connected incorrectly, why there is poor wifi reception in a room or where exactly the issue lies. Every customer, every house is different, so the job offers a lot of variety and you never get bored." Michel never actually wanted to become the man who fixes breakdowns. After completing his apprenticeship, he actually wanted to go into the direction of computer science.  "I have a CATP ("certificat d'aptitude technique et professionnelle", ed.) in communications. Technician at Post was not initially supposed to be my dream job, but in the end I feel quite comfortable here", says the 40-year-old.

The constant: change

Repairing wires, optimizing the network, troubleshooting TV, phone and alarm system malfunctions – the activities that dictate Michel's workday have always been the same. But the technology behind them has evolved massively since he was hired in 2006: "A lot has changed. Initially, there was DSL and at that time there was already talk of fiber optics cable, but back then this was still associated with costs that are too high. Today, on the other hand, we are on the cutting edge in Luxembourg." Michel recalls somewhat nostalgically the time when paper and pencil still dominated everyday life. "When I started, the work sheets were still issued by hand, a copy was given to the customer and then a call was made to the head office to let them know that the job was now done and that you were going to the next appointment."

For each customer, two to three A4 sheets of paper were printed on both sides with the details of the connection – if someone was not at home, the pieces of paper were shredded. "Those were good times, but there was a lot of paper involved", says Michel. Back then, around 20 men went out to work from their headquarter on the Cloche d'Or; today, the technician's work zone tends to be limited to the south. With time came technology, which the 40-year-old with Italian roots is still enthusiastic about today: "At some point, we had to fill out electronic forms with a Bluetooth pen, but that didn't last long. Now we all work with an iPad, which has been working really well for about seven years, even if it was difficult to go paperless at first. It just takes time to get used to new things."