Carr Says Training Tower Workers Critical Part of Leading on 5G
FCC Commissioner Brendan Carr stressed the need for more skilled tower workers in a speech Thursday at Aiken Technical College in South Carolina, during a three-day swing through the South. “A skilled workforce is essential to winning the race to…
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5G and building next-gen networks in communities across the country,” Carr said. “I’ve seen firsthand the work that tower crews are doing to deploy this infrastructure and the challenges they face in meeting the exploding demand for their services.” The tower industry estimates it needs 20,000 more skilled workers to complete the 5G build, he said. Carr said he's working with the National Wireless Safety Alliance to create programs similar to Aiken's elsewhere. Changes in wireless infrastructure rules have meant more buildout, Carr told us. “Now that sort of tees up a new challenge -- how do we have the skilled workforce to go ahead and get that deployment out there?” The program at Aiken should be seen as a model, Carr said. All of the graduates of the course, which takes up to 12 weeks to complete, have been able to immediately get a job when they graduate, he said. “These are good paying, solidly middle-class jobs,” he said. By doing it through a college, students can get grants and other student aide, including from the military, he said.