As the United States expands its fiber broadband infrastructure through federal grant programs like the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) and the Broadband Equity, Access, and Deployment (BEAD) Program, the strain on the existing broadband workforce will be immense.
Current estimates suggest that a new workforce of around 170,000 fiber optic installers and broadband construction workers will be needed to create the networks that are currently at some level of planning. Our industry has never seen this level of workforce need before, and it is happening as many technicians who have spent their careers in the field are retiring.
How to face this challenge? The current demand will only be met through increased efficiencies in broadband deployment and the immediate training of a new workforce.
Increasing the Efficiency of Our Current Fiber Broadband Workforce
Given the demands of the broadband workforce, it’s important that they work smarter, not harder. The time involved in constructing a network is roughly 30% line crew work, extending lines across the many miles a network must reach — especially in rural areas — and about 70% splicing those lines into existing and new terminals to establish connectivity.
As an example: a dispersed rural town of 100 homes might have on average, three to five homes served by a single terminal — roughly 30 terminals for 100 homes. Splicing lines into those terminals can take four to five hours per terminal, so the whole job may take as many as 150 hours, or around 3 weeks for one technician.
One way to reduce the workforce needed to complete broadband buildouts is to make the work more efficient. At Corning, we’re accomplishing that through our pre-connectorized FlexNAPTM terminals. Rather than using a traditional terminal that requires splicing, pre-connectorized terminals are essentially plug-and-play: new cables connect simply and quickly to the terminal, saving days for the construction portion and providing service to your customers that much faster.
According to Kevin Baker, Marketing Development Manager at Corning, where a normal construction project that requires splicing terminals averages placing times of 200-300 feet per hour, companies using our pre-connectorized FlexNAPTM terminals can build out 3,000 to 5,000 feet per day — based on environmental conditions — and at the same time place and connect the terminals during the cable placement, saving that second truck roll for splice work. With the right equipment, today’s broadband workforce can save time on splicing and build out networks far faster, all while meeting Build America, Buy America (BABA) requirements and BEAD timelines.
Pre-connectorized systems also reduce the likelihood of mistakes. “The more access points you have, the more chance for human error there is,” said Baker. And, because pre-connectorized terminals are not open to the elements, there is less chance of damage due to weather, animals, or other events beyond your control.
Training the Fiber Broadband Workforce of Tomorrow
Even with increased efficiencies, the demand for broadband workers is so high that more workers will be needed. As a result, various educational institutions and organizations — like the Fiber Broadband Association and Learning Alliance — are creating training programs to train the next generation of the broadband workforce. These programs are vital for the United States to meet the demands of our current broadband expansion.
These trainings are engaging people as young as high school and college students, as well as older adults looking for new career paths. The trainings vary on the skills taught and the depth of the curriculum. In other words, some trainings are teaching the skills needed to start working as soon as possible, while others teach good-to-have, but not necessarily essential, skills like pole climbing and trenching.
Corning has created a 40-hour skills training course. Starting with brief fiber theory, we move quickly into familiarizing them with the terms, tools, and equipment they need to be technicians in the field.
With an 85% hands-on to 15% lecture ratio — and demonstrations by trainers followed by letting students try for themselves — students learn skills like splicing and laying fiber, so they are ready to join a fiber deployment team immediately upon finishing the course.
According to Elizabeth Lentz, Manager of the Fiber IQ Program at Corning, the Corning program has a 98% hire rate for people leaving our course. We’re offering the course ourselves and partnering with community colleges that offer the training — often enhanced with other material not covered in our course.
“We are close to our customers and others in the industry,” said Lentz, “and we are responding to this need, just like we are creating innovative products that respond to their needs to get things installed and deployed faster.”
As an industry, we must face the urgent needs of the broadband workforce together. If you want to know more about how Corning can help you increase efficiencies in your broadband deployment, please feel free to contact us.
Kevin Baker, Market Development Manager
Corning Optical
Kevin Baker is a Market Development Manager for Corning. Kevin has brought to Corning 25 years of experience as a lead engineer in fiber deployment, network planning and product selection for PON and wireless. In his current role, he works in a market and business development role, focusing on educating his customers in making holistic decisions towards their fiber deployments and proper utilization of available assets to prepare their networks for future growth.
