Fibre optic installation training courses set to begin

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This article was published 21/05/2019 (2379 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Classes in fibre optic installation and maintenance will soon be in session.

Broadband Communications North (BCN) is starting courses in 2019 and hopes to train 50 to 70 students its first year.

The move is to prepare for the explosion coming in fibre optics installation, with communities from Morden-Winkler to the capital region to the far north launching ambitious plans to install fibre optic cable to upgrade internet services.

Called Binesi Training Centre, it will be Manitoba’s first Fiber Optic Association (FOA)-approved training program. Classes will be held wherever it makes the most sense for those communities having fibre optics installed.

“The long and short of it is we need to build up this skilled labour in Manitoba,” said Ken Sanderson, BCN executive director.

Previously, potential staff had to travel outside the province and sometimes waited a year for a course. As well, outside workers are often having to be imported into employment-starved regions.

“With these big projects, people don’t think about who’s preparing the local communities to participate meaningfully in those projects,” Sanderson said.

“So what we wanted to do is build a training centre that was a) responsive to industry needs and b) responsive to the needs of the communities so they could benefit fully.”

Companies are generally in support of the plan by BCN, a not-for-profit provider of broadband service to rural, northern and remote communities since 2002. Some have volunteered to demonstrate equipment, as well as invite trainees to witness live projects.

“We work closely with industry, some of our quote-unquote competitors, and have a pretty good handle on their training needs,” Sanderson said.

BCN, one of the largest First Nations community networks in Canada, already provides internet service to numerous remote First Nations sending telecommunication signals via towers transmitting from Manitoba Hydro fibre optic cables.

BCN is involved in a fibre optics installation program for up to 10,000 Interlake residents, including First Nations in Fairford, Little Saskatchewan, Dauphin Lake and Lake St. Martin, and communities Gypsumville and Grand Rapids. It is also involved in the ambitious plan to hook up 34 mostly northern First Nations on fibre optics.

The program can allow people to make a career in fibre optic installation. Sanderson said fibre optic installation doesn’t happen overnight and will take 10 to 20 years before the province is fully serviced. “It’s not a quick process,” Sanderson said.

Advanced training can be for maintenance and troubleshooting in a local area.

What makes fibre better versus radio towers is greater bandwidth and fewer breakdowns. “Once it’s in, the maintenance is easier. A bunch of microwaves hops means more points of failure,” Sanderson said.

For example, if you are on a line of three towers, a problem in one of those towers interrupts service.

The course will be four days for just fibre installation using specialized equipment. You trench it down to a certain depth below the frost line and then lay the cable or dig a tunnel and blow the cable through using an air compressor.

Different specializations after that vary from one to four days. The cost of the course will be $1,000 to $1,200, with assistance likely available from employers and Canada-Manitoba job grants.

bill.redekop@freepress.mb.ca