Future-Proofing the Rural Broadband Workforce

• Published in: Rural Telecommunications Vol. 38; no. 4; pp. 28 - 31
• Main Author: Oates, Bryce
• Format: Journal Article Trade Publication Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington National Telephone Cooperative Association 22.09.2019; National Telephone Cooperative
• Subjects: Apprenticeship; Broadband; Broadband transmission; Certification; Collaboration; Communications industry; Communications networks; Community; Community colleges; Cooperatives; Curricula; Educational technology; Employees; Employment; Hiring; Human resources; Labor supply; Public sector; Retirement; Rural areas; Rural schools; Rural telecommunication; Skills; STEM education; Students; Technical colleges; Telecommunications services industry; Trade associations; Training; Trends; Workers; Workforce; United States > US; Tennessee; Wisconsin
• ISSN: 0744-2548

According to Joshua Seidemann, vice president of policy for NTCA-The Aural Broadband Association, many rural telccs are working to address the same issue: how to best recruit and train the rural workforce of the future. The statewide trade association has forged a formal broadband technician skills and training partnership with the Wisconsin Indianhead Technical College (WITC) and Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development (DWD). The human resources manager said that she expects Twin Lakes to deepen this partnership with local workforce training efforts in the future. [...]FCC Chair Ajit Pai recently appointed WSTA to the commission's Broadband Deployment Advisory Committee Working Group on Job Skills and Training Opportunities.