WASHINGTON—Citing a need for a properly trained and highly skilled workforce, a coalition of communications industry organizations have sent a joint letter to both the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives requesting support for industry-specific workforce development programs.
The organizations that signed the letter include the NAB, NATE: The Communications Infrastructure Contractors Association (NATE), the Competitive Carriers Association (CCA), CTIA, the Government Wireless Technology & Communications Association (GWTCA), the National Wireless Safety Alliance (NWSA), Rural Wireless Association (RWA) and the Wireless Infrastructure Association (WIA).
In the letter, the groups are seeking stand-alone legislation for these workforce development programs, or for them to be included in a larger telecom/broadband infrastructure package.
According to the letters, bipartisan legislation has been introduced in both the Senate and the House that would meet these demands, including the Communications Jobs Training Act, the Telecommunications Skilled Workforce Act and the TOWER Infrastructure Deployment Act.
The letter was sent to the chairman and ranking member of the House and Senate Commerce Committees and their Communications Subcommittee, as well as the chairman and ranking member of the House and Senate Labor Committees and their subcommittees with jurisdiction over workforce issues.
“NATE is pleased to join our communications industry colleagues in reaffirming the critical importance of ensuring that we have enough properly trained and qualified workers to handle the enormous amount of work that the telecom industry will be undertaking,” said Jim Goldwater, NATE director of Legislative and Regulatory Affairs, in the organization's announcement.
The letter to the Senate Commerce Committee is available to read in full here, and the letter to the House Energy & Commerce Committee is available here.
