Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers
US occupation · SOC 49-9052
Job titles people report: Cable Splicer, Cable Tech (Cable Technician), Cable TV Tech (Cable Television Technician), Combination Technician (Combination Tech), Fiber Optic Splicer, Field Service Technician, I and R Technician (Installation and Repair Technician), Installer, Outside Plant Technician (Outside Plant Tech), Telecommunications Technician (Telecommunications Tech)
Pay and outlook
- Median annual wage, May 2025
- $74,330
- Half earn more, half earn less
- Middle half earn
- $54,310 – $95,850
- 25th to 75th percentile
- People employed, May 2025
- 97,720
- Wage and salary jobs (OEWS)
- Projected change, 2025–35
- -3.4%
- Shrinking (below 0%)
- Openings a year (projected)
- 8,000
- New jobs plus replacing people who leave
- Typical education to enter
- High school diploma or equivalent
- BLS
- All figures are for the United States as a whole. Pay varies a lot by state and city.
- Wages are for everyone working in the occupation in May 2025, at every career stage. They are not starting salaries or figures for new graduates.
- Growth and openings are BLS projections for 2025–35. They are estimates, not promises. Openings include jobs that open up when people retire or change occupation, not just new jobs.
What the work involves
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
Main tasks
- Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.
- Inspect or test lines or cables, recording and analyzing test results, to assess transmission characteristics and locate faults or malfunctions.
- Clean or maintain tools or test equipment.
- Set up service for customers, installing, connecting, testing, or adjusting equipment, such as digital subscriber line modems.
- 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.
- Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduits running through trenches.
- Pull cable through ducts by hand or with winches.
- Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks.
Description and tasks from the O*NET® 31.0 Database.
Getting in
- Typical education to enter (BLS)
- High school diploma or equivalent
- Training once hired: long-term on-the-job training
- O*NET Job Zone 1–2
- Little to some preparation
- Usually requires a high school diploma or GED, though some occupations may not.
Interests it suits
The strongest of the six O*NET interest types for this occupation, highest first. The short glosses are ours.
- Realistic: hands-on work with tools, machines, plants or animals
- Conventional: organising information, records and procedures
- Investigative: research, analysis and solving problems with ideas
Fields of study that lead here
From the federal CIP–SOC crosswalk, which links 1 programme to this occupation. A link means the programme prepares people for this kind of work. It doesn't mean the programme is required, or that it's the only route.
Fields
Our college matcher doesn't offer this field as a major, so we can't suggest colleges for it here.
Mechanic and Repair Technologies/Technicians
- Communications Systems Installation and Repair Technology/Technician
Related careers
Related occupations from the O*NET database, in its order.
- Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
$63,890 median · -3.3% projected
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers
$95,320 median · +10.3% projected
- Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers
$63,520 median · +1.2% projected
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers
$52,600 median · +4.8% projected
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment
$84,890 median · +5.4% projected
- Electricians
$63,190 median · +9.2% projected
Sources
This page includes information from the O*NET 31.0 Database by the U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration (USDOL/ETA). Used under the CC BY 4.0 license. O*NET® is a trademark of USDOL/ETA. CollegeMatcher has modified all or some of this information. USDOL/ETA has not approved, endorsed, or tested these modifications. O*NET 31.0 Database · CC BY 4.0
Changes: we show the core tasks in the O*NET database with the highest importance ratings (up to eight, in that order), the top three O*NET interest types by score, and shortened Job Zone names. Titles, descriptions and task text are unchanged.
Wages: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025. Projections, typical entry education and training: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Employment Projections 2025–35. Fields of study: NCES and BLS CIP 2020–SOC 2018 Crosswalk. All public domain. OEWS · Employment Projections · CIP–SOC crosswalk