Media Contact:
Greg Watson, (202) 418-3787 
greg.watson@fcc.gov 
 
For Immediate Release






Carr Praises 5G Workforce Bill

WASHINGTON, DC, February 2, 2021—Commissioner Brendan Carr praised legislation introduced in the Senate today that would advance government-wide efforts to expand the skilled workforce needed to build 5G.  

The Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act, introduced by Senators Thune, Tester, Wicker, Peters, and Moran would create an interagency working group led by the FCC to develop recommendations to address the workforce needs of the telecommunications industry.  

“By modernizing our country’s infrastructure rules, America is now home to the strongest 5G platform in the world, and Internet providers are adding new cell sites at an unprecedented pace.  To complete America’s 5G build, we need nearly to double the number of skilled tower techs and telecom crews working in this country.  Doing so would not only advance U.S. leadership in 5G and create thousands of new jobs, it would help ensure that we have the workforce in place to extend the reach of high-speed Internet services at a time when so many Americans are relying on the Internet to work from home and utilize services such as telehealth and remote learning,” said Carr.  “I applaud Senator Thune and his colleagues for their leadership in taking on this workforce challenge and introducing legislation that would create thousands of good-paying jobs.”

Carr leads a 5G jobs initiative aimed at standing up tower tech training programs through community colleges and trade schools.  Those programs have now been launched in South Carolina, South Dakota, North Carolina, and Oklahoma and more trade school programs are in the works.
  
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Office of Commissioner Brendan Carr: (202) 418-2200
www.fcc.gov/about/leadership/brendan-carr