New Social Project in Sheffield to Create New Full Fibre Engineers

A new scheme – the Dryden project – has been started in one of Sheffield’s most disadvantaged areas, which will see partners work together to help tackle digital poverty by connecting up 360 homes on a council estate in Southey Green to FTTP broadband – using this as a platform to help train new engineers from the local community.

The project is being led by the David and Jane Richards Family Foundation, a local charity, and the youth and community services provider SY-NC (Sheffield Youth Neighbourhoods and Communities), with other supporters including Councillor Jane Dunn, Digital Poverty Alliance, Northern Powerhouse Partnership, UK ISP Pine Media, Sheffield Churches Council for Community Care, Sheffield City Council and the University of Sheffield.

Under the plan Pine Media, which has already built their own gigabit-capable Fibre-to-the-Premises (FTTP) broadband network to serve over 7,600 flats/apartments in Sheffield, will install this network on the same estate as mentioned earlier. As part of this, they’ll also create a number of roles for trainee field services technicians.

The trainees will work under the supervision of experienced technicians, running cables, fixing blockages and developing skills in fibre-optic engineering. The trainees will work towards becoming qualified technicians in a sector with a skills shortage and a growing demand for experienced workers.

Ben Charig, Strategy and Planning Manager at Pine Media, said:

“We are looking for people with practical problem-solving skills, resourcefulness and the ability to work as team players, keep their wits about them and maintain a safe and tidy workplace.

Our industry is growing and internet service providers are generally struggling to recruit and retain good people. Fibre will be around for decades and will need maintenance. People who become skilled and efficient fibre jointers can expect to earn around £35,000 a year and potentially significantly more if they run their own fibre cabling and civil engineering companies.

These are great opportunities and we are excited to be taking part in this pioneering project to tackle digital poverty.”

David Richards, co-founder of the David and Jane Richards Family Foundation and WANdisco, said:

“The Dryden project will empower people to lift themselves out of poverty by providing a low-cost and safe way into the digital world, opening up opportunities for education and employment, improving access to public services and providing a portal for useful and trustworthy information.

We need ambitious young people from the estate to help us build and maintain the new network and encourage anyone who is interested to get in touch. It could launch new tech careers and lead to new company startups in Southey Green.”

Anything that helps to tackle the current shortage of skilled fibre engineers is a good thing, although it’s unclear how many individuals may actually benefit from the new training programme, as the deployment itself is relatively small. Nevertheless, there’s no greater teacher than that of practical on-the-job experience.