Winch new cable underground
With your crew, feed cable off its reel as a winch draws it into a buried duct.
Career profile
Telecommunications Line Installer and Repairer
Telecom line installers put in and fix lines bringing television, phone, and internet to people.
Pulling cable through a buried duct, then hunting down what's blocking a signal, shows the range here: hard outdoor labor and careful, step-by-step troubleshooting.
A day in the life
Join thin strands of glass
On fiber jobs, prep the ends, fuse them with heat in a fusion splicer, and shield the splice.
Find where the signal drops
Match the tester's graph to the cable route, and a surprise dip flags a connection or damaged stretch.
Record test results per fiber
Log results under the fiber and cable IDs so a tech chasing trouble later has readings to compare.
Quick facts
High school + workplace training
United States · 2025
$74,330/year
United States · May 2025
3.4% projected decline
United States · 2025–2035
Quick orientation
Preparation, pay & outlook
Preparation
High school + workplace trainingA high school diploma or equivalent is typical, followed by long-term training on the job.
Pay
$74,330/yearNational median pay, equivalent to $35.73 an hour.
Outlook
3.4% projected declineAbout 8,000 openings a year are projected nationally despite declining total employment.
Fit, tradeoffs & changing tools
You might like this if…
- You enjoy finding a physical cause for a problem.
- You can switch from moving cable to careful handwork.
- You like coordinating practical tasks with a crew.
Things to weigh
- Weather, lifting, and awkward positions are part of the work. Elevated jobs bring fall risks; strains are another real concern.
- Some jobs include nights, weekends, or emergency callouts, which can interrupt your plans.
Where AI may help
On fiber jobs, machines can align and fuse prepared fibers, while test software helps analyze signal loss.
What people still lead
You still prepare clean fiber ends and check whether a test result makes sense for the actual cable route.
What we can’t predict yet
How much diagnosis can become automatic remains uncertain: a tester’s automatic analysis can misread features of the cable.
Pay in context
Earnings
The national median was $74,330 a year, or $35.73 an hour, in May 2025. That is the midpoint across workers, not a starting offer.
The pay spread
The lowest-paid 10% earned $45,310 or less; the highest-paid 10% earned $103,680 or more. These are wage percentiles, not steps on a career ladder.
Employer industry matters
A historical comparison shows annual mean pay of $76,740 in telecommunications and $53,170 in utility system construction in May 2023. These averages describe groups of workers, not current offers.
Openings despite a decline
Employment is projected to shrink 3.4% from 2025 to 2035, while averaging 8,000 openings annually. Openings and growth measure different things; a shrinking occupation can still need replacement workers.
Getting started
Join an employer that trains new hires
- What the route involves
- Combine formal instruction with hands-on practice alongside an experienced technician.
- What it can lead to
- Build the equipment and repair skills needed to take on the employer’s line work.
- What to check
- Check driving requirements: travel may require a driver’s license, and heavy-vehicle duties usually require a commercial driver’s license.
Apply for a registered apprenticeship
Paid
- What the route involves
- Apply to a sponsor offering fiber-optic or telecommunications utility installation training. Apprentices combine mentored work with job-related classes.
- What it can lead to
- Completing the program earns a portable, nationally recognized apprenticeship credential.
- What to check
- Apply directly to the employer or sponsor and check its entry requirements and current openings.
A high school diploma or equivalent is the typical starting point. Learning the trade continues after you are hired.
After entry
Career paths
This starts where the entry routes leave off: early work, growing capability, and advancement or specialization.
Get established
Learn the crew’s equipment and repair tools until you can explain what each tool checks and when to use it.
Build your troubleshooting judgment
Learn to compare fiber test graphs with cable records and spot results that need another check.
Specialize in fiber splicing and testing
Develop deeper skill with splicers and test instruments. Equipment-specific training helps you handle different machines and interpret more difficult results.
Where you can work
Outdoor cable routes
Your worksite moves along poles, trenches, and underground ducts. Crews use different access and pulling equipment as the route changes.
- Outdoors
- Field work
- Physical demands
- Safety-sensitive
Fiber-splicing trucks and trailers
Some cable work moves into a clean mobile workspace at ground level. Here, close-up fiber preparation and joining replace much of the large-scale cable handling.
- Vehicle
- Field work
Try it
See whether the job clicks before you commit to the path.
Draw a cable route from a street cabinet to four homes, including a shared section and separate branches. Mark two neighboring homes as offline. Circle the section you would investigate first and explain why. Notice whether tracing the shared connection interests you.
Stay safe: Keep this a paper exercise; do not open cabinets, climb poles, or handle utility cables.
Sources
- O*NET OnLine. Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- O*NET OnLine / U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. National Wages: Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Occupational projections and worker characteristics, 2025–35. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. May 2023 Occupational Employment and Wages: 49-9052. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Telecommunications Technicians. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- The Fiber Optic Association. Fiber Optic Installation. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- The Fiber Optic Association. Outside Plant Fiber Optic Splicing and Termination. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- The Fiber Optic Association. QuickStart Guide: Fiber Optic Testing With Optical Time Domain Reflectometers. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Department of Labor. Telecommunications. Accessed 2026-10-03.
- U.S. Department of Labor. Career Seekers. Accessed 2026-10-03.