National
| Median wages (2008) |
$23.12 hourly, $48,090 annual |
| Employment (2006) |
162,000 employees |
| Projected growth (2006-2016) |
Slower than average (3% to 6%)
|
| Projected need (2006-2016) |
50,000 additional employees |
49-9052.00 - Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers
String and repair telephone and television cable, including fiber optics and other equipment for transmitting messages or television programming.
Sample of reported job titles:
Combination Technician, Service Technician, Installation and Repair Technician (I & R Technician), Cable Splicer, Cable Technician, Installer, Outside Plant Technician, Construction Technician, Construction Worker, Lineman
Tasks
- Travel to customers' premises to install, maintain, and repair audio and visual electronic reception equipment and accessories.
- Inspect and test lines and cables, recording and analyzing test results, to assess transmission characteristics and locate faults and 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, and adjusting equipment.
- Place insulation over conductors, and seal splices with moisture-proof covering.
- Access specific areas to string lines and install terminal boxes, auxiliary equipment, and appliances, using bucket trucks, or by climbing poles and 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.
- Install equipment such as amplifiers and repeaters in order to maintain the strength of communications transmissions.
- Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduits running through trenches.
back to top
Tools & Technology
Tools used in this occupation:
| Cable reels — Cable trees; Motorized cable reels |
| Saws — Drywall saws; Hacksaws |
| Screwdrivers — Flat-head screwdrivers; Phillips screwdrivers |
| Signal generators — Tone generators; Tone sets; Tone tracers |
| Stripping tools — Cable jacket strippers; Cable strippers; Fiber scribes; Sheath removal tools |
| Trenching machines — Cable plows; Trenchers |
| Wire lug crimping tool — Combo crimping tools; Wire lug crimping tools |
Technology used in this occupation:
| Enterprise resource planning ERP software — Workforce management system software |
| Internet browser software — Internet web browser software |
| Transaction security and virus protection software — Ping tools |
