Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
97,720 people do this job in the US. $74,330 a year.
of the working time. Estimate.
- 1%
- 0%
- 99%
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, 1%. Today's estimate: 1%.
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 . 20 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Use a variety of construction equipment to complete installations, such as digger derricks, trenchers, or cable plows.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 13% | 3.3 h1.3 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Dig trenches for underground wires or cables.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 12% | 4.2 h1.7 h to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Travel to customers' premises to install, maintain, or repair audio and visual electronic reception equipment or accessories.Done daily by most who do it. | 12% | 1.7 h50 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Set up service for customers, installing, connecting, testing, or adjusting equipment, such as digital subscriber line modems.Done several times a day by most who do it. | 9% | 1.3 h38 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| 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.Done daily by most who do it. | 8% | 1.3 h25 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Inspect or test lines or cables, recording and analyzing test results, to assess transmission characteristics and locate faults or malfunctions.Done daily by most who do it. | 7% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduits running through trenches.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 h50 min to 6.7 h | Stays with people | |
| Clean or maintain tools or test equipment.Done daily by most who do it. | 3% | 25 min13 min to 50 min | Stays with people | |
| Pull up cable by hand from large reels mounted on trucks.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.3 h25 min to 2.5 h | Stays with people | |
| Pull cable through ducts by hand or with winches.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people | |
| Install equipment such as amplifiers or repeaters to maintain the strength of communications transmissions.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 2% | 1.7 h38 min to 3.3 h | Stays with people |
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 Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers11% now, 14% by 2028
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers2% now, 2% by 2028
- Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers11% now, 11% by 2028
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers7% now, 7% by 2028
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment8% now, 8% by 2028
- Electricians13% now, 17% 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).