In the transition to 5G, communication service providers (CSPs) have invested billions of dollars in building their infrastructure and virtualizing key components. Funding from the recent Bipartisan Infrastructure Law in the United States will further infuse capital nationwide to expand mobile broadband services, particularly in rural areas.
However, the skilled workforce needed to lay the fiber to support wireless connections, install radios, deploy the core network components, and other essential equipment remains scarce. To manage 5G complexities, like new core functions, cloud implementations, and network monitoring, CSPs require skilled maintenance and operations crews that aren’t available. In the past four years, telecommunications employees have decreased by nearly 100,000.
