Installation, maintenance and repair
Telecommunications line installers and repairers
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
Median pay
$74,330
Growth to 2035
−3%
declining
Openings a year
8,000
Time to qualify*
12 months
* From a bachelor's degree in an unrelated field.
Pay
Telecommunications line installers and repairers
Getting in
- Typical entry education
- High school diploma or equivalent
- On-the-job training
- Long-term on-the-job training
- Prior experience
- None
Calculate your switch to telecommunications line installers and repairers
What the work is like
Dealing with the public
Unpleasant or angry people
Time pressure
Cost of a mistake
Freedom to make decisions
Repeating the same tasks
Time sitting
Time standing
Outdoors in all weather
Hazardous conditions
Exposure to disease
Telecommunications line installers and repairers: 30% usually work over 40 hours a week
Core 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.
Also called: 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
Outlook and AI
Telecommunications line installers and repairers held 103,400 jobs in 2025. BLS projects 99,900 by 2035 (−3%, declining; all jobs: +3.5%).
Compare with
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Telecommunications equipment installers and repairers, except line installers
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Lineman
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Radio, cellular, and tower equipment installers and repairers
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Audiovisual equipment installers and repairers
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Electrical and electronics installers and repairers, transportation equipment
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Electrician
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Electrical and electronics repairers, commercial and industrial equipment
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Signal and track switch repairers
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Security and fire alarm systems installers
- Telecommunications line installers and repairers vs. Electronic equipment installers and repairers, motor vehicles