Over 100 new telecoms engineering apprenticeships are to be created as part of Openreach's plan to accelerate full fibre deployment in Northern Ireland.
Openreach recently announced that Gigabit full fibre broadband has been available in over 360,000 homes and businesses across Northern Ireland already, putting coverage at 40%. The group plans to accelerate the deployment of full fibre infrastructure throughout 2020, and is now hiring over 100 new apprentice engineers to help make it happen.
The apprenticeships will be rolled out from now until March 2021 and represents a doubling of current apprenticeship numbers, and roles will be made available all across Northern Ireland. The programme takes 18 months and those completing it will also get an NVQ from Belfast Metropolitan College to certify their training.
The apprentices will learn how to install fibre broadband and will help to deliver 1Gbps connections to homes and businesses, with plans to reach 60% NI coverage (525,000 premises) by the end of March 2021.
Openreach Northern Ireland Director Mairead Meyer commented on the new roles: "Our new recruits will join our dynamic engineering team at a really interesting time for Openreach and help support our ambition to deliver the best possible connectivity to everyone, everywhere, across the province. We are continuing to build Full Fibre broadband to over 750 homes and businesses every day. Openreach is one of the biggest investors in infrastructure in Northern Ireland."
To apply for the programme, head over to the Northern Ireland Apprentice Scheme website at https://www.btplc.com/Careercentre/earlycareers/apprentices/ourprogrammes/engineeringservices/index.htm
Source: Written based on press release
