Our person of the day is Dimitar Stoilov, Service Management Engineer at CETIN Bulgaria

We live in an era where "being online" is no longer an activity; it is a state of being. Like electricity or running water, connectivity has shifted from a technological marvel to the normality of daily life. And while the world turns its eyes to the latest apps, AI trends, or viral content, the strong, complex foundation that enables the new tech to even exist, stays “out-of-mind” (unless it stops working, of course).

You may wonder, who are the guardians of this invisible shield of constant connectivity?

Behind the seamless 5G bars on your screen lies a whole world that operates 24/7/365. It is a world where success means going unnoticed, and where the necessity to keep the digital lights on never fades. This is the daily reality within the companies in the CETIN International family, where the ranks are starting to be filled with a fresh wave of engineers. And so, we meet Dimitar Stoilov, part of CETIN Bulgaria’s new generation of engineers, a young professional who entered telecoms out of genuine curiosity, discovered a world far more complex than expected, and stayed because of the people, the challenge, and the real impact of the work.

7 questions to Dimitar. 7 insights for you to discover new facts, knowledge, and horizons. 

Is it true that Gen Z doesn’t remember life without a smartphone?
That isn't entirely true in my case! I do actually remember the "brick" phones, and I’ve even used a telephone with a rotary dial. I’ve seen the evolution, which perhaps makes me appreciate the technology we have today even more.

Tell us an interesting fact you wish more people knew about your job.
I wish people realized the sheer scale of the effort involved. Maintaining such massive infrastructure requires the work of many people across many teams. It’s never a one-man show; everyone gives their maximum to achieve these results. When someone uses mobile internet or makes a call freely, they rarely stop to think that hundreds of processes are happening simultaneously within fractions of a second to make that connection possible.

What was the moment when you realized telecom wasn’t just “another tech field” for you?
It happened when I looked at how fundamental mobile connectivity is. We accept it as a basic service we can't live without. I was intrigued precisely because it is something everyone uses and takes for granted yet realizing it technically is not easy at all. I wanted to understand how that "basic" utility is delivered, which is why I enrolled in Telecommunications at the Technical University. That’s where it all started.

What do you work on that people don’t realize is so critical?
Right now, I work on Yettel’s value-added services like SMS, MMS, and digital platforms like HBO Max and Storytel, alongside my colleagues. The traditional SMS service is one of the most critical things we manage, even though fewer people write text messages today. Why do I say critical? Because the service is now used largely for machine-to-machine communication: it’s how banks, social networks, and many other systems send security codes and notifications. When your SMS service doesn't work, you can find yourself in a very unpleasant situation, like being unable to log into your email or various apps and systems. It's a service you rarely think about, but it turns out it can halt your other daily activities.

How did your background prepare you for the realities of the telecom world?
There was a difference between theory and practice. In university, everything is examined separately and broken down very clearly. The moment you enter the practice and see a real, live mobile network, everything becomes sharply more complex. However, my theoretical knowledge helped me orient myself much faster. It gave me the foundation to understand the "why," even if the "how" was much bigger in real life.

What surprised you most when you moved from the NOC to Service Management?
The biggest adjustment was adapting to the scale of the organization and the necessity of procedures. In university projects, you work with three or four people. But here, you have an organization with many departments and constant communication between different units. There are strict procedures that must be followed so everything runs smoothly. Moving from the Network Operations Center (NOC), the heart of the telecom where we monitored the network 24/7, to Service Management meant taking responsibility for specific value-added services like HBO Max, Storytel, and internal systems. It showed me that every cog in the machine is vital.

What keeps you motivated in such a demanding field?
The dynamic nature of the industry. Telecoms are never stagnant. Consumers evolve, devices are renewed, and the network must be upgraded periodically - from 4G to 5G, and soon 6G. The things I deal with are extremely interesting to me, and I’m motivated to keep developing in this sphere. Plus, the environment at CETIN plays a huge role. Even when I’ve faced complex cases, my more experienced colleagues, the generation that built these networks from scratch, have always been ready to help. It makes working here incredibly pleasant.

Text and photos based on original publication material by money.bg (https://money.bg/career/badeshteto-na-telekomunikatsiite-veche-e-v-ratsete-na-smartfon-pokolenieto.html).