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GOOD NEWS! Alaska has been allocated nearly $2 billion to expand high-speed broadband internet to unserved and underserved communities in rural Alaska over the next few years, including funds under the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Expanding broadband to rural Alaska will create many good paying jobs with career potential for construction, installation, and maintenance of the broadband network as well as for other services. Learn more about the infrastructure allocation HERE or visit the Alaska Broadband Office (ABO).
Once constructed, the broadband network will give Alaskans throughout the state the opportunity to participate fully in the global economy, including the ability to attend online classes, start an online business, work remotely anywhere in the world, or visit remotely with family, friends or with health care providers.
"Building Alaska's digital future now"
THE CATCH! To receive the federal funds, Alaska has until November 15 to draft a Final Proposal including the details about how Alaska will develop the construction and technical workforce needed to install, build, and deploy the broadband infrastructure. Alaska’s Broadband Workforce Development Plan must create a feasible statewide structure for finding, educating, training, employing, and retaining an equitable and highly skilled telecommunications broadband construction and maintenance workforce. To obtain the funds, the plan also must meet all federal requirements described in a workforce planning guide Internet For All from the U.S. Department of Commerce.
Where Does the Funding Come From?
The 2021 federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) included $42.45 billion for the Internet for All initiative to expand telecommunication to unserved and underserved areas of the nation. This investment represents a once-in-a-generation opportunity toward achieving universal access to affordable, high-speed Internet service across the United States and closing the digital divide.
The broadband funding is distributed through two programs administered by the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) at the U.S. Department of Commerce (USDOC):
- Broadband Equity & Access Deployment Program (BEAD)
- Digital Equity Act (DE)
The Internet For All Guide describes the criterion each state must follow to create a BEAD/DE workforce plan that can meet its 2 main objectives.
1) Meet all federal requirements embodied in the IIJA that authorizes BEAD and DE funding, and
2) Develop an equity-driven telecommunications workforce that offers better jobs and career opportunities for workers, especially for historically underserved populations.
What Are Alaska’s Workforce Priorities?
Two priorities of the Alaska Broadband Office (ABO) for the Alaska State Action Plan are Local Hire and Cross-Industry Training & Utilization. Local Hire strategies will ensure people living in rural Alaska communities get the work building, installing, operating, and maintaining broadband infrastructure in their own communities. Cross-industry training recognizes that broadband industry skills, occupations and professions are like those needed by many industries in Alaska. Construction, oil & gas, mining, transportation, maritime, alternative energy, facility maintenance and operations all require workers with similar skills.
To achieve these priorities, the Alaska Broadband Office (ABO) has determined that the Alaska Broadband Workforce Development Plan hinges on building 3 components.
- Workforce for construction, deployment, and Installation
- Workforce for operations and maintenance – which includes workers with telecom construction skills
- Ongoing education and workforce training after universal broadband deployment
The Alaska Broadband Workforce Development Team (BWDT) is now gathering and sharing information on Alaska’s broadband workforce development needs and strategies for the Alaska Broadband Office (ABO). To develop a plan for U.S. Commerce Department funding the goal is to build and deploy broadband infrastructure faster, quicker, and more efficiently. Join the effort to gather the information needed to ensure Alaska has an appropriately trained, skilled, and credential workforce for broadband expansion in Alaska! Sign up HERE. to receive more information and join our Forums.
Workforce Development
Workforce development is a critical consideration for any state's application for the new broadband infrastructure funding. Ensuring the opportunities and resources are in place for an appropriately trained, skilled, and credentialed workforce is necessary to deliver on this historic investment for expanding broadband access to Alaska's unserved and underserved residents.
Like many states, Alaska is in the process of developing a strategic Broadband Workforce Development Plan to support broadband expansion. Without a plan to build a job-ready workforce when and where needed across rural Alaska, projects may be delayed over the long term or, worse, impossible to complete. The next six months will be spent building the strategy with the intent to have it in draft form by November 15 of this year.
What Alaska's BWDT Will Do
To build a successful Broadband Workforce Development Plan, the Alaska Broadband Workforce Development Team (BWDT) will address Alaska’s broadband labor supply needs in compliance with National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) requirements. The BWDT plan development activities include research and information gathering to create a greater understanding of the broadband project landscape. Alaska's BDWT must assess the occupations and skills involved in the broadband industry sector to prepare labor demand and supply projections. This involves an analysis of Alaska’s rural economic regions, current career and technical education (CTE) pathways for secondary and post-secondary students, occupation related pre-apprentice, registered apprenticeship, tribal training programs and other private sector training programs, training available through Alaska’s regional training center(s) and approved vendors on Alaska’s Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) Eligible Training Providers List (ETPL). Research will identify education and training gaps, and challenges for providing broadband skills training in and for rural Alaskans.
BEAD Plan Development
As part of the Alaska Broadband Workforce Development Plan, the BWDT will review the broadband workforce background, including:
- national and state efforts for broadband infrastructure workforce development
- the relationship between Digital Equity and the Broadband Workforce Plan
- Alaska’s current workforce and industry sector plans; WIOA, construction, oil & gas, maritime, State Apprenticeship Plan and previous gas pipeline construction plans
- current state secondary and postsecondary CTE plans (Carl Perkins & Alaska CAN!)
- current Tribal training plans
- current state workforce laws, regulations, labor standards, occupational safety, that affect broadband projects, employers and workers
- Alaska’s current economic and labor market conditions, workforce demographics, resident worker data, unemployment rate, underemployment rates, average wages, and many other factors that will contribute to the requirements to have a workforce ready for deployment over the next several years.
For many in Alaska, especially those in un-served and under-served areas, barriers to broadband connectivity remain. The ALASKA BROADBAND OFFICE (ABO) of the Alaska State Department of Commerce, Community, and Economic Development is working to remove those barriers. ABO develops equitable policies and programs that will significantly expand access to fast, affordable, and reliable internet service, providing all residents and businesses of Alaska the economic and social benefits of broadband access.