Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
Most important skills
- Speaking
- Critical Thinking
- Monitoring
- Quality Control Analysis
- Reading Comprehension
- Active Listening
- Coordination
- Installation
Key knowledge
- Telecommunications
- Customer and Personal Service
- Engineering and Technology
- Computers and Electronics
- Public Safety and Security
- Building and Construction
- Production and Processing
- English Language
What the work involves
- 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.
- 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.
- Clean or maintain tools or test equipment.
- Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks.
- Pull cable through ducts by hand or with winches.
- Set up service for customers, installing, connecting, testing, or adjusting equipment, such as digital subscriber line modems.
Strongest interest areas (O*NET): Realistic, Conventional, Investigative.
Qualifications and licensing
- Most common education
- High School Diploma or the equivalent (such as a GED) (78.3% of expert ratings)
- Related experience
- Over 1 year, up to and including 2 years (29%)
- On-the-job training
- Over 2 years, up to and including 4 years (24.9%)
- Preparation level
- O*NET job zone 2: Job Zone 1-2: Very Little to Some Preparation Needed
- Licensing
- Not yet verified. Check your state licensing board.
Check before planning
- Licensing for Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers is not yet verified for any state: check the state licensing board before planning.
Limits
- Distributions show what current workers or occupational experts report, not legal minimums.
- Requirements vary by employer and state; time to qualify is not estimated.
Source: O*NET 31.0 Database (USDOL/ETA, CC BY 4.0); BLS Employment Projections · dataset 2026.10.8 · method e3-qualification-1.0.0
Work environment
How the typical conditions of this occupation compare with 911 occupations in O*NET (very low = the lowest fifth).
Levels are relative. Most occupations involve a lot of contact with people, for example, so “very low” can still mean regular contact; the last column shows what workers actually reported.
| Condition | Level | Compared with other occupations | Most common answer (O*NET survey) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Contact with others | Very high | Higher on contact with others than 89% of occupations compared | 86% of surveyed respondents chose “Constant contact with others” |
| Dealing with the public | High | Higher on dealing with the public than 76% of occupations compared | 57% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Teamwork | High | Higher on teamwork than 60% of occupations compared | 54% of surveyed respondents chose “Extremely important” |
| Freedom to make decisions | Very high | Higher on freedom to make decisions than 91% of occupations compared | 73% of surveyed respondents chose “A lot of freedom” |
| Time pressure | Very high | Higher on time pressure than 83% of occupations compared | 53% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a week or more but not every day” |
| Conflict situations | Moderate | Higher on conflict situations than 50% of occupations compared | 43% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Dealing with unpleasant or angry people | Moderate | Lower on dealing with unpleasant or angry people than 59% of occupations compared | 49% of surveyed respondents chose “Once a year or more but not every month” |
| Consequence of error | Low | Lower on consequence of error than 60% of occupations compared | 41% of surveyed respondents chose “Fairly serious” |
Work-pressure profile
- Time pressure: very high
- Conflict situations: moderate
- Dealing with unpleasant or angry people: moderate
- Consequence of error: low
Each part is shown on its own. There is no combined stress score, and conditions vary by employer and role.
Full answer distributions
Contact with others
- No contact with others: 0%
- Occasional contact with others: 0%
- Contact with others about half the time: 1.32%
- Contact with others most of the time: 12.78%
- Constant contact with others: 85.9%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with the public
- Not important at all: 8.72%
- Fairly important: 1.5%
- Important: 18.81%
- Very important: 13.61%
- Extremely important: 57.36%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Teamwork
- Not important at all: 0%
- Fairly important: 1.32%
- Important: 12.35%
- Very important: 32.37%
- Extremely important: 53.96%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Freedom to make decisions
- No freedom: 0%
- Very little freedom: 0%
- Limited freedom: 3.82%
- Some freedom: 22.94%
- A lot of freedom: 73.24%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Time pressure
- Never: 0%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 1.32%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 4.72%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 52.55%
- Every day: 41.4%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Conflict situations
- Never: 4.9%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 43.38%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 23.58%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 18.77%
- Every day: 9.38%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Dealing with unpleasant or angry people
- Never: 1.91%
- Once a year or more but not every month: 48.69%
- Once a month or more but not every week: 34.53%
- Once a week or more but not every day: 14.87%
- Every day: 0%
n = 20, Incumbent 08/2026
Consequence of error
- Not serious at all: 12.31%
- Fairly serious: 40.5%
- Serious: 17.35%
- Very serious: 16.68%
- Extremely serious: 13.17%
n = 19, Incumbent 08/2026
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O*NET-SOC 49-9052.00 · SOC 49-9052 (exact, high confidence) · dataset 2026.10.8