A company bringing full-fibre broadband to large parts of London, including Lambeth, is urging local residents to apply for one of 225 new “fibre specialist” jobs.
Through its Reskillship programme that launches this week, G.Network plans to train Londoners from scratch to become part of the engineering workforce that will install the fibre network.
Candidates will not be required to have any previous fibre or engineering experience.
The company says they be judged on attitude and aptitude alone.
Recruitment will be through a simple interview with G.Network and a two-week pre-employment training programme.
Find out more on the company website.
Before starting work, people who join the company will get about four months of intensive training through a combination of classroom and on-the-job instruction.
G.Network said successful applicants will receive industry-recognised qualifications and work on the network across London.
“We hope this news will bring hope to those who became unemployed during the pandemic, or those who need a new start,” said Stephanie Ashmore, G.Network’s chief talent officer.
“We are much more focused on what candidates can do in future rather than what they’ve done in the past.
“We hope to see many applicants from Lambeth.”
G.Network says the large workforce it needs to install upgraded broadband across London cannot be met from the current UK skills base.
The company plans to spend around £120m upgrading Lambeth’s broadband as part of its plan to overhaul London’s connectivity over the next five years.
This will involve digging about 425 kilometres (264 miles) of streets in the borough.
G.Network already has some deployment in Lambeth as well as Camden, Hackney, Hammersmith & Fulham, Islington, Kensington & Chelsea, Tower Hamlets and Westminster – supplying a total of 190,000 premises.
It will soon expand to a further five London boroughs.
The company has installed its network in parts of the Brixton Hill and Coldharbour wards. Streatham Wells and Streatham Hill are next on its list.
To see if the network is available to you, check your postcode on the G.Network website. The company aims to cover around 80% of the borough within five years.
Its connections range from 100 megabits per second (Mbps) to 10 gigabits per second (10 Gbps).
It says its service is priced competitively so that customers can benefit from superior fibre connectivity at the same or lower cost than current copper-based services.
G.Network says about half of the Reskillships will be funded through the government’s Adult Education Budget (AEB) and that it will fund the training of the rest.
