Fiber Broadband Association’s OpTIC Path™ Program Adopted at National Training Facility

The Learning Alliance will offer the OpTIC Path course to help connect fiber network builders to skilled fiber technicians across the U.S.

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Fiber Broadband Association today announced that the Learning Alliance Corporation will soon offer the Optical Telecom Installer Certification Path (OpTIC Path™) program. The Learning Alliance actively works with 500 employer partners and connects them with trained candidates to fill the telecom workforce gap across all 50 states. The addition of the OpTIC Path course will enable the Learning Alliance to increase training for fiber technicians that are urgently needed to build fiber broadband networks across North America.

The Learning Alliance is dedicated to building stronger workforce development with a majority of the coursework focused on wireless tower and fiber optic technician fundamentals. Its facility in Tampa, Fla., offers generous warehouse space that is used to simulate in-field work environments and best educate students on specific trade skills, duties, and responsibilities.

“One of the biggest challenges our employer partners have is finding enough trained technicians. We excel at bringing in those people. Very often companies are hiring individuals directly out of our classes. One of our partners doubled its employees overnight with our graduates and therefore doubled the work the company could accomplish the next day,” said Cesar Ruiz, CEO at Learning Alliance. “The OpTIC Path program is an exciting addition to our course offering because fiber is pivotal in everything in telecom. The Fiber Broadband Association took great care to create a program that produces fully-trained technicians so they can be more productive on their first day as a new employee.”

Learning Alliance students travel to the Tampa facility to take part in an immersive, in-person educational atmosphere. The institution offers every student housing, meals, and transportation during their course, which usually lasts about two weeks for fiber curriculum. During courses, advanced technology is leveraged to engage students with hands-on learning opportunities, including virtual reality, augmented reality, blending learning solutions, and expertly-designed simulations.

“The OpTIC Path program is gaining exciting momentum. We’re seeing an influx of community colleges and other institutions, like the Learning Alliance, adopt our course and help us take a huge step toward eliminating the fiber workforce shortage,” said Deborah Kish, Vice President of Research and Workforce Development at the Fiber Broadband Association. “The Learning Alliance’s mission is to exchange ideas and to shape the future of trades across the country, and that is the perfect partner for our OpTIC Path program. We look forward to working with the institution and taking this step together.”

The Learning Alliance plans to initiate its first OpTIC Path course by the end of 2022. The institution is already working with several partners to get the program up and running. Preformed Line Products will aide training and VIAVI is contributing equipment and an additional certification to graduates.

The Fiber Broadband Association’s OpTIC Path program was created to develop the skilled fiber technician workforce needed to support the significant increase in fiber network builds that are planned as a result of the NTIA’s Broadband Equity, Access, and Development (BEAD) Program. A team of dedicated fiber professionals, deployment specialists, and industry leaders created this course to help close the skills gap and bring fiber and digital equity to every home. Since the launch of the OpTIC Path pilot course in March 2022, the program is being offered or considered by over 40 colleges, learning institutions, and employers in 32 states and two countries outside of the U.S., and continues to gain momentum toward being offered in all 50 states and multiple learning institutions. To learn more, visit fiberbroadband.org/fba-optic-optical-telecom-installation-certification.

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.