Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
- Median pay
- $74,330
- Doing it now
- 103,400
- By 2035
- Down 3.4%
- Usually needs
- High school diploma or equivalent
a year
across the country
8,000 openings a year
to get in
What the work involves
- Travel to customers' premises to install, maintain, or repair audio and visual electronic reception equipment or accessories.
- Inspect or test lines or cables, recording and analyzing test results, to assess transmission characteristics and locate faults or malfunctions.
- Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.
- Measure signal strength at utility poles, using electronic test equipment.
- Set up service for customers, installing, connecting, testing, or adjusting equipment.
- Access specific areas to string lines, or install terminal boxes, auxiliary equipment, or appliances, using bucket trucks, climbing poles or ladders, or entering tunnels, trenches, or crawl spaces.
- String cables between structures and lines from poles, towers, or trenches, and pull lines to proper tension.
What to study
The fields of study the Department of Education links to this occupation, most widely taught first.
- Electrical/Electronics Maintenance and Repair Technologies/TechniciansSee 8 colleges that teach it
Who it suits
O*NET scores every occupation on six interest dimensions. This one leans hardest on these three.
Hands-on and practical
Organised and precise
Analytical and curious
Careers like this one
- Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers$63,890
- Home Appliance Repairers$50,990
- Geothermal Technicians$49,230
- Security and Fire Alarm Systems Installers$60,070
- Electric Motor, Power Tool, and Related Repairers$56,210
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers$52,600
Where this comes from: the description and the task list are O*NET, which the Department of Labor maintains. Pay, workforce size, outlook and the education normally needed are the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Projections programme, 2025 wages and 2025 to 2035 projections. Half of them earn more than $74,330 a year, which means half earn less, and what you would earn depends on where you work and how long you have been doing it. The fields of study come from the National Center for Education Statistics crosswalk.