Brierwood is now offering OSP (outside plant) fiber optic training.

Brierwood always being a leader in innovative training is among the first to offer the FOA CFospT outside plant certification. This certification addresses the demand for highly trained osp technicians. Due to government mandated delivery of broadband service to virtually every community in the US, along with the flood of federal stimulus funds to this project, there is more demand for fiber technicians then ever before.

WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Obama administration on Thursday will hand out the first $182 million of a $7.2 billion pot of stimulus money that will go toward building high-speed Internet networks and encouraging more Americans to use them.

In a speech in Dawsonville, Ga., Vice President Joe Biden will announce the first 18 projects that will receive federal funding to bring high-speed Internet connections to rural areas, poor neighborhoods and other underserved communities across the country.

The administration plans to award a total of $2 billion in grants and loans on a rolling basis over the next 75 days as it starts doling out the first round of stimulus funding for broadband.

The Department of Agriculture will announce $53.8 million in funding for eight projects on Thursday, and the Commerce Department will announce $129 million in funding for 10 projects. Those projects together also will put up another $46 million in matching dollars.

The money is being targeted for "last-mile" connections that link homes, businesses and other end users to the Internet; "middle-mile" connections that link communities to the Internet backbone; computing centers in libraries, colleges and other public facilities; and adoption programs that teach people how to use the Internet and encourage them to sign up for broadband services.

 A $33.5 million grant to the North Georgia Network Cooperative for a fiber-optic ring that will bring high-speed Internet connections to the northern Georgia foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. The project will serve an eight-county area with a population of 334,000.