From temporary worker to team leader.
When Aris Schnider joined cablex as a temporary worker in 2011, he had no idea where his path would take him. Two years later, he was taken on permanently as a lead installer. He took on his first management responsibilities back in 2015 and now leads a team in civil work and cable pulling in the Bern region. Together with his team, he is responsible for smaller and larger projects in the areas of public works, civil work and cable pulling.
Where infrastructure takes shape.
The work often begins where no one can see: underground. Aris and his team open holes, create access to shafts and prepare the infrastructure so that optical fibre cables can be pulled through in the next step. Only the interplay between public works, civil work and cable pulling makes the expansion of high-performance networks possible – and for Aris, it is precisely this broad expertise that is one of cablex's greatest strengths.
Aris on the team spirit at cablex.
One stop for everything.
Since the expansion of expertise in civil work and public works in 2019, cablex's way of working has changed. These days, cablex itself can provide many services along the entire value chain – from the preparation of roads and the construction of high-performance infrastructures to fault rectification. This makes processes more efficient, increases flexibility and simplifies collaboration for customers, who often only need one contact person.
Work continues until the signal is back.
Aris can remember two projects in particular: the major outage on the Simplon Pass and the cable relocation as part of the expansion of Bern railway station.
For the railway station project, existing lines – from telecommunications to electricity – had to be relocated to make room for the new infrastructure. This involved opening up routes, adapting shafts and rebuilding existing cable routing. Hundreds of metres of cable had to be removed from the existing structure and precisely rerouted. As many connections could not simply be switched off or switched over, a large part of the work was carried out at night.
"It was impressive to see how all areas worked together. Such operations only succeed with good work preparation, precise coordination and people who get stuck in."
Night work does not simply mean working outside regular hours – it demands the utmost precision. The work must be carried out as quietly and efficiently as possible and within the specified time frame so that residents are affected as little as possible.
The major outage on the Simplon Pass was even more memorable for Aris: Rodent damage caused numerous connections to fail simultaneously – internet, telephony and critical connections such as emergency calls were interrupted.
"Within a very short time, teams from public works, cable pulling and other areas were in action. Work went on all night until the new cable was pulled through and the signal came back. It's at moments like those that you realise cablex is a team. "
