Fiber Broadband Association Launches OpTIC Path™ Mini Course to Boost Fiber Technician Recruitment

Mini fiber technician training course highlights value of starting a career in fiber broadband

Today at Fiber Connect 2023, the Fiber Broadband Association announced a mini course for its Optical Telecom Installer Certification (OpTIC Path™) fiber technician training program, titled “Broadband Basics: Your Future in Fiber!” The mini course will introduce broadband concepts and career opportunities, attract new students, and help close the gap in skilled technicians needed to connect every community to reliable, high-speed fiber broadband services.

As broadband providers across North America look to expand fiber networks to reach the unserved and underserved, they are in desperate need of skilled fiber technicians that can build these networks safely and efficiently. The OpTIC Path program provides a training course that can be delivered by schools, colleges, training centers, and employers to develop the workforce needed.

Dura-Line Academy, which is part of Orbia’s Connectivity Solutions group, co-created the OpTIC Path “Broadband Basics: Your Future is Fiber!” mini course to help recruit potential technicians to the fiber broadband industry. The free, 15-minute introductory course will be available online 24/7 and participants earn a digital badge after completing the session.

“The OpTIC Path Broadband Basics course will drive awareness to today’s youth of the fiber broadband industry and the benefits fiber technicians can access as they plan their careers,” said Deborah Kish, Vice President of Research and Workforce Development at the Fiber Broadband Association. “We pre-packaged our program’s value statements into an ultra-consumable session so it will be easy to understand why a career in fiber is a great decision. We hope this mini course will help recruit more technicians to fill the workforce pipeline for our members and the broader fiber broadband industry so we can build the networks every American deserves.”

FBA is currently engaged with 39 states to roll out the OpTIC Path program, with 40 service providers and 67 community colleges and training institutions. Electric cooperatives in Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, Tennessee, and Oklahoma have either adopted or are interested in the program. The OpTIC Path program is also gaining support from employers across the fiber broadband industry, working closely with schools and training facilities so they can hire certified technicians as soon as they are ready to enter the workforce.

For more information about the OpTIC Path program, visit fiberbroadband.org/education-and-certification/fba-optic-path/.

About the Fiber Broadband Association

The Fiber Broadband Association is the largest and only trade association that represents the complete fiber ecosystem of service providers, manufacturers, industry experts, and deployment specialists dedicated to the advancement of fiber broadband deployment and the pursuit of a world where communications are limitless, advancing quality of life and digital equity anywhere and everywhere. The Fiber Broadband Association helps providers, communities, and policy makers make informed decisions about how, where, and why to build better fiber broadband networks. Since 2001, these companies, organizations, and members have worked with communities and consumers in mind to build the critical infrastructure that provides the economic and societal benefits that only fiber can deliver. The Fiber Broadband Association is part of the Fibre Council Global Alliance, which is a platform of six global FTTH Councils in North America, LATAM, Europe, MEA, APAC, and South Africa. Learn more at fiberbroadband.org.

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