Training Scotlands Digital Engineers of the Future | Openreach

In science, technology, engineering and more, Scotland has long been a hot-bed of innovation, exploration and discovery.

Scotland has the largest concentration of universities in Europe and does more research per head of population than anywhere else.

To build on this platform of success, Scotland deserves world-class digital infrastructure to support the next generation of inventors.

A new training facility

That’s why we’re proud to be launching a new training facility in Scotland this week that will give our engineers the skills they need to roll out faster, more reliable broadband technology across the country. It’s going to enhance our existing national training centre in Livingston and give our people the skills they need to get the job done.

More than 400 of Openreach’s newly-hired trainee engineers in Scotland – many of them joining us in rural locations – will be among the first to pass through the new fibre training school. Around 40 of these individuals have been hired to work on the rollout of a world-class full-fibre network in Edinburgh later this year.

Cutting-edge facilities

Our new £400,000 training facility includes a new purpose-built classroom in which our engineers will learn how to install full-fibre broadband. Later this year we also plan to install a mock-up residential road at this site, for our trainee engineers to test their skills in a controlled, but highly realistic, setting. Called Open Street, the new facility will have a live fibre network which connects a local exchange to a replica office, shop and houses through pavements, ducts, poles and cabinets, with an extra dose of reality added by exposure to the elements.

Attracting the best talent

There’s never been a more exciting time to join Openreach, or a more pressing need to attract more people into the engineering profession, which is why we’re making the investment we’ve announced today.

There’s more work to be done, but we’re doing everything we can to ensure Scotland has a world-class digital network that’s fit-for-the-future.