PCIA’s members are very concerned about the lack...
PCIA’s members are very concerned about the lack of training available for wireless technicians, which is why the group got involved in efforts at Virginia State University in Petersburg to promote industry training (CD Sept 30 p10), said PCIA President…
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Jonathan Adelstein in an interview. “Right now no training schools or community colleges are teaching how to install wireless infrastructure, but the field is growing rapidly with 4G and other upgrades that are going on,” he said. “There’s a need for a much larger workforce.” The U.S. education system has not kept up with the need for trained workers, he said. “We're hearing directly from our members that this is a problem.” Adelstein said PCIA has also created an apprenticeship program through the Department of Labor that will give workers on-the-job training. As carriers seek to “densify” their networks, antennas are getting closer to customers and other antennas, he said. “We need more people in the field who can deal with this congestion of both data traffic and antennas,” he said. Workers need to understand basic radio frequency principles as networks get more complex, he said. Adelstein also said PCIA is pleased the FCC plans to take on streamlining rules for distributed antenna systems and small cells (CD Sept 20 p3). “PCIA has been working for years on this very proceeding,” he said.