FCC Commissioner Carr Announces Initiative on Community Colleges as Pipelines for 5G Jobs

Federal Communications Commissioner Brendan Carr visited the Tower Installation Program at Aiken Technical College, which provides the practical and classroom training that enables workers to find jobs as tower climbers. Commissioner Carr delivered remarks on ensuring the US has the skilled workforce in place to build next-gen wireless networks and win the race to 5G. In particular, he identified the need for more Telecom Tower Technicians (known as “TTT-1”s) and how the US can achieve that goal by expanding on Aiken’s model program.

“A skilled workforce is essential to winning the race to 5G and building next-gen networks in communities across the country,” said Commissioner Carr. “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. Wireless crews estimate that they need an additional 20,000 skilled workers to complete this build. Here at Aiken Tech, Gemma Frock and her team have built a seven-week program that provides climbers with the right mix of physical, safety, and technical skills to land a good-paying job in this field. It’s time we build on the success here at Aiken and stand up similar tower training programs in community colleges and technical schools throughout the US. Doing so will address our country’s need for more TTT-1 certified workers and help close the skills gap by turning our country’s community colleges into pipelines for 5G jobs. I’m already working toward that goal with efforts underway through the National Wireless Safety Alliance to establish similar programs in other communities.”