Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends. Service or repair telephone, cable television, Internet, and other communications equipment on customers' property. May install communications equipment or communications wiring in buildings.
140,920 people do this job in the US. $63,890 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 14%
- 0%
- 86%
Measured, from Anthropic's usage data (2025). Counts help on part of a task.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 4.4 h long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 10%. Today's estimate: 11%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
The tasks
Sorted by . 40 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks.Done daily by most who do it. | 22% | 3.3 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Run wires between components and to outside cable systems, connecting them to wires from telephone poles or underground cable accesses.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Repair or replace faulty equipment, such as defective and damaged telephones, wires, switching system components, and associated equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 1.7 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Drive crew trucks to and from work areas.Done daily by most who do it. | 6% | 33 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Climb poles and ladders, use truck-mounted booms, and enter areas such as manholes and cable vaults to install, maintain, or inspect equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 4% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 4% | 38 min13 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Remove and remake connections to change circuit layouts, following work orders or diagrams.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 50 min25 min to 1.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Demonstrate equipment to customers and explain its use, responding to any inquiries or complaints.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Test connections to ensure that power supplies are adequate and that communications links function.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 38 min13 min to 1.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Route and connect cables and lines to switches, switchboard equipment, and distributing frames, using wire-wrap guns or soldering irons to connect wires to terminals.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Program computerized switches and switchboards to provide requested features.Done more than weekly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h25 min to 4.2 h | 57%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
- Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers1% now, 1% by 2028
- Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers11% now, 11% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Repairers, Commercial and Industrial Equipment14% now, 20% by 2028
- Telecommunications Engineering Specialists17% now, 67% by 2028
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers7% now, 7% by 2028
- Power Distributors and Dispatchers82% now, 91% by 2028
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025).
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025).