TSSC, BIF sign MoU for enhanced skilling in Indian broadband ecosystem

The Telecom Sector Skill Council (TSSC) and Broadband India Forum (BIF) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) towards meeting and developing the manpower training requirements of BIF members, in accordance with the latest technologies and skilling standards.

The MoU, which has been signed for duration of 3 years, is aimed at facilitating the development of efficient and adequately skilled manpower resources amongst BIF’s member organisations, especially for next generation technologies, including 5G, Wi-Fi (PM WANI), IoT, Small Cells, Digital In-Building solutions and other emerging technologies.

“For projects like The National Broadband Mission, Smart Cities and other big-ticket technologies like 5G and IoT, we need skilled manpower with domain expertise. Most of the semi-urban and rural reach of FTTH is being achieved through the LCO (Local Cable Operators) and its imperative to skill their manpower to get the best results. Our aim is to enable the telecom sector to grow rapidly to cater to future demand. India has become the next big destination for capital investment in the ICT manufacturing and servicing domain,” said Arvind Bali, CEO, TSSC.

The efforts under this MoU will include joint mapping of skill requirements against the industry demand for both reskilling and upskilling to be conducted by BIF and TSSC. The Telecom Sector Skill Council will support BIF’s wide ranging membership base in development of their requisite training eco-system, alignment of training deliverables to industry requirements, and will create awareness of the skill program among them.

T.V. Ramachandran, President Broadband India Forum, said, “India has been blessed with a rich talent pool of highly capable and innovative resources, especially in the digital technologies domain. It is imperative to ensure that their skill development requirements are met adequately and appropriately, so as to help develop them into world-class professionals. This, in turn, will lead to enhanced and effective productivity, aiding in the proper growth and evolution of the broadband ecosystem in India. BIF is pleased to associate with TSSC, which has long been the gold standard for skill development in the telecom sector in this endeavour, which we believe will help strengthen our objective of facilitating ubiquitous, high-quality and affordable broadband for all.”

TSSC and BIF will issue joint certificates on all the paid National Skills Qualifications Framework (NSQF) aligned courses. The Telecom Sector Skill Council will help develop programs with high industry visibility and traction for BIF members and provide guidance on various government skill development schemes for participating and deriving benefits from.

BIF will provide its support to TSSC in the form of suggestions for course content for training of its member organisations. Additionally, BIF shall help create/upgrade labs, classrooms and teaching infrastructure for them with TSSC’s guidance.