Wireless Infrastructure Association Awarded $5M Grant to Lead Texas Broadband Workforce Program

The Wireless Infrastructure Association has been provisionally selected for a $5 million Building the Texas Broadband Workforce Grant from the Texas Broadband Development Office to lead a comprehensive 4-year program to educate and train Texans for high-demand broadband careers. This statewide initiative directly addresses Texas’s most critical barrier to broadband expansion: a shortage of skilled fiber optic technicians required to meet BEAD deployment demands across the state. The program will operate through four University of Houston System campuses plus regional training sites, serving both urban and rural underserved communities identified as high-priority areas. WIA brings together employers, academia, and government agencies to identify where broadband workers are needed most and create training programs to fill those jobs. WIA operates fiber optic technician credentialing and apprenticeship programs at both the national and state levels. University of Houston (UH) will serve as a strategic partner for the project. Over the life of the project, WIA and its partners will:

• Implement hands-on fiber optic technician training in partnership with the University of Houston System, including establishing four lab locations outfitted with industry-standard equipment,
• Fully integrate training curricula into UH’s regular course offerings, ensuring that broadband workforce development becomes a permanent component of Texas higher education,
• Ensure graduates receive both industry-recognized credentials and academic credit that can be applied toward degree programs, and
• Scale job placement opportunities for graduates by leveraging WIA’s position as a national trade association representing employers in the digital infrastructure sector as well as the experience of Texas-based recruiters from Brooksource, a national provider of Information Technology and Engineering human capital solutions.