Wireless Infrastructure Association

Meetings and conventions:annual connectivity expo and various events are provided for the benefit and interest of the members.

Dol contract: in 2020, the u.s. Department of labor (dol) awarded wia with a multiyear, multi-million-dollar contract as the national sponsor of the telecommunications industry registered apprenticeship program (tirap). The objective of the funding is to expand the industry's multi-employer apprenticeship model to meet employers' occupational and skills development needs.

Training and education: the wireless infrastructure association offers training and education opportunities to equip a skilled workforce so they can build and maintain current and future wireless networks. Wia offers in-house learning programs as well as apprenticeship opportunities in partnership with the telecommunications industry and federal agencies.

The state of ohio, in collaboration with the ohio manufacturers' association (oma), has been awarded a three-year, $23.49 million federal grant through the u.s. Economic development administration's good jobs challenge program. The grant aims to invest in high-quality, locally led workforce systems to expand career opportunities and secure well-paid jobs. The ohio state university (osu) has been granted a subrecipient role with funding not to exceed $3,000,000, to extend the broadband and 5g sector partnership work. Additionally, the wireless infrastructure association (wia) has been awarded the wia industry liaison purchase service for $1,350,000. In 2024, the ohio state university received $682,760 through the super rapids program to address urgent workforce development and job creation needs and awarded this to wia. This funding supports the broadband and 5g sector partnership through four key initiatives: marketing and outreach services, career counseling and employer matching via gtec talent, website development to centralize resources and engage stakeholders, and the creation of a statewide employer database by ready.net to inform strategic workforce planning. Wia continues to play a critical role as an industry intermediary, supporting program design, training distribution, and data analytics. These efforts build on the foundation established under geer and align with ohio's broadband & 5g workforce strategy to increase industry career awareness, scale education and training programs, and leverage state and federal funding.

Membership: trade association for the wireless infrastructure industry; providing programs and services to address industry needs.

Telecommunications industry registered apprenticeship program (tirap ): built by and for telecommunications employers, tirap is a competency-based apprenticeship aimed at growing the productivity of the workforce as directly as possible. Tirap defines career paths in a growing number of critical occupations, including tower technicians, wireless technicians, and utilities workers, along with leads and foremen. By establishing on-the-job training as well as classroom learning, these apprenticeships help onboard and upskill workers. This leads to better efficiency and safety -plus higher employee engagement and retention. Powered by the wireless infrastructure association and with partners across the country, tirap provides training resources, support, and access to incentive funding for our members and other telecommunications companies. This registered apprenticeship program leads to a national credential recognized by the u.s. Department of labor.

Center of excellence: the department of labor awarded $7 million to a consortium of organizations led by houston's safal partners, which includes wia, to develop a registered apprenticeship center of excellence in support of strategic partnerships and system alignment. This center seeks to support the increase in the use of registered apprenticeship as a key workforce development program. Wia works with the safal partners-led consortium to convene and gather input from telecommunications and related industry sectors nationwide.

Mdcp south africa: wireless infrastructure association (wia) was awarded a grant from the u.s. Department of commerce through the international trade administration's market development cooperator program (mdcp) for its "roadmap to 5g success" project, which is designed to accelerate 5g deployment in south africa, thereby increasing business for u.s.-based companies. Through the project, wia delivers training to the local, state, and central government staff and academic community in south africa, helping them better understand the 5g ecosystem and learn best practices for efficient 5g rollout. The mdcp award also funds training for these stakeholders to learn fundamentals of broadband and 5g through the telecommunications education center, wia's dynamic learning program which offers instructor-led classroom learning, elearning, and live webinars. Mdcp awards are designed to remove trade barriers and help u.s. Firms to export.

Vermont: the state of vermont, through the vermont community broadband board (vcbb), has partnered with the wireless infrastructure association (wia) to expand workforce development in the fiber optics sector. Under this initiative, wia is supporting the registration and implementation of employer-driven apprenticeship programs aligned with the nationally recognized telecommunications industry registered apprenticeship program (tirap). The program focuses on outreach to eligible internet service providers and communications union districts (cuds), providing technical assistance to establish and sustain apprenticeship pathways.

Ysu arc contract: the appalachian regional commission (arc) created a grant to help the regional economy become more competitive by putting in place the building blocks for self-sustaining economic development, while continuing to provide special assistance to the region's most distressed counties and areas. The wireless infrastructure association (wia) entered into an agreement with youngstown state university (ysu) to deliver training content and provide association support for the 5g readiness credentials that wia developed in relation to the arc grant that ysu received on october 17, 2022. Ysu is the prime recipient of the arc grant to scale and sustain 5g readiness training program in the appalachia region.

H1-b federal grant: the u.s. Department of labor awarded wia a $6 million grant to expand apprenticeship in the telecommunications industry. The grant program, apprenticeship: closing the skills gap, is designed to support large-scale expansions of apprenticeship. In partnership with the power & communication contractors association (pcca), the grant will be used to train a 5g workforce, an integral part of winning the global race to 5g. Five institutions of higher education have already committed as technical partner schools.