U.S. Senate committee tackles shortage of 5G tower climbers

While 5G cellular networks are beginning to spread across the United States, comprehensive rollouts of the next-generation technology are being held up by a significant shortage of professional installers — “tower climbers,” as they’re known in the trade — and there’s no immediate solution in sight. That’s the key takeaway from testimony delivered to the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation today by both industry groups and the FCC, which expressed concern that there aren’t enough workers to actually build the 5G infrastructure U.S. citizens are expecting over the next decade.