The availability of fibre to the home broadband services in the UK has increased dramatically in the last few years – fibre reached just 18% of households in 2018 but increased to around 65% in the first quarter of 2024 with some analysts predicting 70% coverage by 2025. But the UK government has an ambitious target of extending gigabit-capable fibre networks to 85% of properties by 2025. The European Union has similar fibre broadband reach figures and expansions plans as the UK. So, there is much more work needed to reach these objectives.

Fibre installation needs skilled personnel so altnets and incumbent operators require an ever-expanding pool of expertise to realise their expansion plans.
Apprenticeships are a proven way of delivering staff with the required skills and knowledge to not only carry out today’s tasks but also provide the network planners and managers of the future.

PTT has recently launched a new “Optical fibre installation and testing” online course that along with other PTT courses such as “Telecoms access networks” and “Telecoms testing and fault-finding” cover the knowledge requirements of the “Telecoms field operative (Level 2)” apprenticeship standard.