The Proximus group is looking for nearly 3,000 additional people in the coming years for the deployment of its fiber optic network. The telecom operator is organizing this Wednesday, May 4 in Brussels a “Fiber job day”.
Proximus has been working for some time now on the large-scale deployment of fiber optics. Currently, the deployment of optical fiber is underway in fifty cities and towns in the country, with 909,000 homes and businesses already connected at the end of the first quarter. Once the deployment reaches cruising speed, from 2023, around 10% of all homes and businesses will be connected each year, or one home every 20 seconds, the company predicts. The goal is for 4.2 million homes and businesses to be connected by 2028. Proximus estimates that 6,000 full-time employees will be needed by 2023 to carry out these projects.
Even after 2028, many of these profiles will be needed
For now, some 3,000 technicians, telecommunications infrastructure specialists, managers and engineers are already working on the project. “More than 40 different functions are involved, from operational activities such as excavation or installation work, to interaction with building owners and managers, to planning and design development of the network and the financial, commercial and administrative follow-up. Even after 2028, many of these profiles will be needed to maintain the network and expand its coverage to other parts of the country.”underlines Proximus in a press release.
With this in mind, the telecom group will organize a job day in its offices near the Brussels-North station. According to Proximus, several Belgian companies active in the deployment of optical fiber will be present, as well as representatives of technical schools and employment agencies such as Forem, Actiris, Bruxelles Formation and VDAB. The Brussels Minister for Employment, Vocational Training and Digital Transition, Bernard Clerfayt, will also be present.