To ensure a steady flow of 5G-ready
tech talent, Singapore’s Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) is
partnering local mobile network operators to hire and reskill 1,000
professionals to support the country's 5G roll-out.
Of these, 70% will be telecom
professionals who are to be upskilled in the areas of 5G network, cybersecurity
and solution engineering to future-proof their jobs, while the remaining 30% will
be new entrants.
The demand for 5G professionals is
expected to grow as Singapore's 5G roll-out gathers momentum and more
enterprises participate in the ecosystem.
Singapore's two full-fledged nationwide 5G networks will be ready only by
2025, and will be built by Singtel and, separately, a joint venture between StarHub
and M1. The full suite of 5G benefits includes much lower latency, the
ability to connect many more devices, and a further boost to network speeds.
Lew Chuen Hong, Chief Executive, IMDA,
said: "This effort extends Singapore's momentum in 5G following our
investment in building infrastructure capabilities. At the same time, to ensure
we have a strong pipeline of 5G talent who are skilled and ready, IMDA is
leading efforts to appoint credible training partners to develop 5G skills
across the ecosystem.
“The first wave of training will begin
at the end of 2020 with the MNOs' 5G professionals."
Under an earlier announced government
TechSkills Accelerator initiative, IMDA has already set up 5G Workforce
Transformation Committees (WTCs) with the MNOs to oversee the planning and
development of their 5G workforce capabilities. In addition, IMDA will be
appointing a consortium comprising National University of Singapore and
Singapore Polytechnic as the 5G and Telecoms Programme Manager.
They will become strategic partners
to aggregate hiring and training requirements from the WTCs and the wider 5G
ecosystem players, so as to co-develop quality training to meet demand.