Openreach rolls out new school

Openreach has unveiled a £400,000 investment in a fibre training school for Scotland to help turn out the “digital engineers of the future”.

The firm, which is part of BT Group, said today that more than 4,000 people have applied for 400 new trainee engineering roles being created north of the Border as it gears up for a major rollout of ultrafast broadband.

The new recruits will be amongthefirsttopassthrough the new training school, located within Openreach’s national training centre for Scotland in Livingston, with about 40 being hired to work directly on the rollout of fibre connections in Edinburgh.

Openreach chief executive Clive Selley said: “Our new engineers are helping us provide better service, broader coverage and faster broadband speeds throughout the country, and this new training school will make sure they have the skills they need to get the job done. We’re confident that our investment in people and networks across Scotland have a big role to play in the country’s future economic success.”

Engineers who pass through the school will receive comprehensive training – from picking up a job and setting up their working area safely to splicing together hair-breadth fibres or installing or repairing a line.

Some 1,700 trainees are expected to pass through the doors during 2018/19.