Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers Salary

The median telecommunications line installers and repairers salary in the United States is $74,330 per year ($35.73/hour). Salaries range from $45,310 at the entry level to $103,680+ for the top 10% of earners. There are 97,720 telecommunications line installers and repairers jobs nationwide. Employment is projected to decline 3.1% through 2034.

Last updated: June 2026 Β· Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics

Median Salary
$74,330
per year
Hourly Rate
$35.73
per hour
Employment
97,720
jobs in the U.S.

Salary Distribution

10th percentile
$45,310
25th percentile
$54,310
Median
$74,330
75th percentile
$95,850
90th percentile
$103,680

Job Growth (2024-2034)

-3.1%
Decline

Annual Openings

8,900
jobs/year (growth + replacements)

Education Required

High school diploma or equivalent

Training Needed

Long-term on-the-job training

Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers Career Guide

Interview questions, resume templates, and a career ladder written specifically for telecommunications line installers and repairerss.

Telecom line installers and repairers pull, splice, and service the copper, coaxial, and fiber-optic infrastructure that carries phone, internet, and cable TV service. They work aerial (bucket truck, climbing poles), underground (vaults, conduit, boring), and inside plant (central offices, headend, MPOE). The trade is on the rebuild β€” fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) deployment, 5G small cell densification, and rural broadband expansion are all pulling in installers. Entry $38-52k; established $52-72k; senior tech / splicer $68-92k; foreman / supervisor $82-115k+. Union roles (IBEW, CWA) add pension and health.

Core Skills Hiring Managers Screen For

Aerial and underground plant construction
Climb wood, steel, and composite poles with belt and gaffs; operate bucket trucks; install strand and cable in aerial spans. Underground: hand-hole and vault work, conduit rodding, and mule tape pulling.
Fiber optic splicing (fusion, mechanical)
Prep, cleave, and fusion-splice single-mode and multi-mode fiber. OTDR (Optical Time Domain Reflectometer) testing to identify splice loss, break locations, and end-to-end attenuation. Splicing rate and quality are the two metrics splicers are measured on.
Copper and coaxial cabling
Cross-connect blocks, RJ-45/RJ-11 terminations, ADSL and VDSL loop testing, coax cable prep and F-connectors, and MoCA integration. Some copper plant still runs legacy service; skilled technicians can troubleshoot both old and new.
Test equipment (OTDR, power meter, TDR, VDSL/DOCSIS meters)
Fluke Networks, EXFO, Viavi, Trilithic. Verify signal levels, RF ingress on coax networks, and end-to-end fiber loss budgets. Documentation for build acceptance and troubleshooting.
Print reading & GIS-based work orders
Read outside plant (OSP) prints for span design, cable routing, and splice locations. Modern telcos use GIS-integrated work order systems (Bentley OpenComms, Verizon FASTMAP) with mobile devices in the truck.
Safety (OSHA, pole climbing, confined space, traffic control)
OSHA 10/30, First Aid/CPR, pole climbing certification, and confined space entry for underground work. Traffic control per MUTCD for roadway work. High voltage awareness β€” line installers work near energized electrical facilities routinely.
Customer service & installation quality
In-home installation work requires professionalism, clean work, and clear customer explanation of the service and equipment. Truck rolls are the largest telco cost; first-time-right installation drives NPS.

How to Become a Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers

  1. 1
    Meet baseline requirements
    18+, high school diploma or GED, valid driver's license (CDL common for larger vehicles), clean driving and criminal record, ability to lift 75 lbs and climb, drug screen, and DOT physical. Some employers require passing a mechanical aptitude test.
  2. 2
    Apply to major telco / cable companies or their contractors
    AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Comcast (Xfinity), Charter (Spectrum), Cox, and their subcontractors (Corning, Volt, MasTec, Dycom, Quanta). Union locals hire journey-level; direct entry is helper / trainee.
  3. 3
    Complete paid trainee academy (4-12 weeks)
    Employer-paid classroom and hands-on training in pole climbing, aerial and underground plant, splicing, and test equipment. Fail rate is 15-25%.
  4. 4
    Earn Fiber Optic Association (FOA) or BICSI certifications
    FOA CFOT (Certified Fiber Optic Technician), CFOS/S (Splicing), and CFOS/T (Testing) are the industry standards. BICSI Installer 1 and 2 add structured cabling credentials. Both trigger pay bumps.
  5. 5
    Advance to Senior Tech / Splicer / Foreman
    $32-42/hr as splicer or foreman. Some journey technicians cross into fiber design, project management, or head-end / central office work. Union promotion follows classification and seniority; non-union follows performance and credentials.

Career Progression

Trainee / Helper (Entry)
0-2 yrs$38-52k ($18-22/hr + overtime)
  • β€’Assist journey techs on aerial and underground plant
  • β€’Complete pole climbing and fiber optic training
  • β€’Ride with mentor on installations and service calls
  • β€’Earn CFOT and safety certifications
Next: Full Tech at 12-24 months.
Full Line Tech (Established)
2-8 yrs$52-72k ($24-32/hr + overtime + on-call)
  • β€’Independent aerial and underground plant work
  • β€’Basic fiber splicing and OTDR testing
  • β€’Service calls on residential and small business
  • β€’Complete work orders in GIS mobile app
Next: Senior Tech or Splicer at 5-9 years.
Senior Tech / Fiber Splicer / Central Office Tech
5-12 yrs$68-92k ($30-40/hr + overtime + splicer premium)
  • β€’Complex fiber splicing and restoration
  • β€’Head-end and central office work (DACS, DSLAM, OLT, DWDM)
  • β€’Precept trainees and full techs
  • β€’Own quality on large-scale FTTH build projects
Next: Foreman / Construction Manager at 8-14 years.
Foreman / Construction Manager / OSP Design
10+ yrs$82-115k+ salaried + vehicle + performance bonus
  • β€’Run crews of 4-15 techs on FTTH build, 5G small cell, or restoration projects
  • β€’Read prints, coordinate with municipality permitting, and manage schedule
  • β€’Own project P&L and safety compliance
  • β€’Interface with utility one-call, GIS design, and customer construction
Next: Regional Construction Manager, Sr Project Manager, or contract with an OSP design firm.

Interview Questions & Answers

5 free questions below. Career Kit unlocks 13 total plus resume bullets for every level.

Q1. Walk me through splicing a 144-count fiber cable in a splice case.technical
Prep β€” pull the cable through the splice case, secure with the appropriate cable retention, and strip back the outer jacket per the case manufacturer's instructions. Fan out the buffer tubes; secure per manufacturer. Strip individual fibers to the correct length, clean with lint-free wipes and IPA, cleave with a precision cleaver checked for cleave angle under 0.5Β°. Fusion splice per the machine's program for the fiber type (single-mode ITU-T G.652 typical). Apply heat shrink to each splice and secure in the splice tray. Test each splice with the OTDR from one direction and reverse. Loss target < 0.10 dB per splice on modern fiber. Close the case per weatherproofing spec. Document the splice location, tray number, and OTDR trace.
Q2. How do you troubleshoot a customer complaint of slow internet on fiber service?technical
Start at the customer end. Check the ONT and router β€” link lights, power, and error counts on the ONT's management interface. Speed test on a wired laptop, not just Wi-Fi. Check upstream and downstream signal levels. If signal levels are good but throughput is bad, check for router misconfiguration or customer devices consuming bandwidth. If signal levels are bad, escalate to fiber team β€” OTDR from the FDH toward the drop, check the drop cable, splices, and splitter port. Common issues: dirty connector at the ONT, kinked drop, or overloaded splitter port on newer PON builds.
Q3. Describe a difficult restoration you worked.behavioral
STAR with real detail. Situation: 288-count trunk fiber cut by a contractor's boring machine at 2 AM affecting 4,200 customers. Task: your role. Action: dispatched with the on-call team, located the cut, evaluated whether to splice in the field or lay a temporary cable. Given the depth and traffic, we splice-cased in the field. Split the count into two teams for parallel splicing. Restored 40% of service in 3 hours, 100% in 8. Result: customer outage cleared before morning peak; the incident became a case study for training. Interviewers want to hear teamwork, methodology, and outcome.
Q4. Why telecom line work?culture
The honest answer that lands: you want a physical trade with clear certifications, real pay progression, and steady growth (fiber and 5G are on the rebuild). You want to work outside and with your hands. Avoid saying 'because I don't want to sit at a desk' as the only reason. Name a specific reason β€” family in the trade, a mentor, or the specific technology (fiber splicing, 5G small cell).
Q5. Where do you see your career in 5 years?closer
Show the tracks: senior tech with fiber specialty, foreman on FTTH build projects, central office tech, or OSP design. Say which you're leaning toward and why. Naming a specific credential (CFOS/S splicing, CFOS/T testing, BICSI Installer 2) signals concrete depth.

Resume Template β€” Full Line Tech (2-8 yrs)

Copy these bullets into your resume as a starting point. Career Kit includes bullets for every level of the ladder.

Full Line Tech (2-8 yrs)
  • β–ΈFull-time line tech at a regional telco on the FTTH build program; installed and terminated 6,200+ drop fibers to residential customers in FY24.
  • β–ΈFOA CFOT + CFOS/S splicing + OSHA 30 + pole climbing certified.
  • β–ΈZero customer callbacks flagged for installation quality in the last 12 months.
  • β–Έ$62k base + $8k overtime + $3k on-call + company vehicle + full benefits.

What Gets You Rejected

  • βœ—Fear of heights or unwilling to climb poles and work from bucket trucks.
  • βœ—Weak fiber splicing skill β€” modern telecom is fiber-heavy and generalist techs need at least basic splicing.
  • βœ—Careless torque on connectors and clamps β€” costs signal quality and truck-rolls back.
  • βœ—Cannot handle rotating weekend on-call for storm restoration and outages.
  • βœ—Poor customer service β€” in-home installations reflect on the telco directly.
  • βœ—No willingness to work in weather (rain, snow, heat, cold) or unusual hours.
  • βœ—Any recent DOT-flagged driving-record issues β€” commercial vehicle work requires clean.

Salary Negotiation Levers

  • βœ“Fiber splicing certifications (CFOS/S) add $3-6/hr; testing (CFOS/T) adds another $2-4/hr.
  • βœ“BICSI Installer 1 and 2 credentials add $1-3/hr and open structured cabling work.
  • βœ“CDL Class A or B unlocks larger vehicle and boring rig work at $2-4/hr premium.
  • βœ“On-call and after-hours overtime commonly 1.5x-2x base; can add $8-18k/yr.
  • βœ“Storm restoration deployment (hurricanes, ice storms) pays per-diem plus overtime β€” $200-500/day per diem plus long hours can add $10-40k during major events.
  • βœ“Union (IBEW, CWA) memberships lock in pay steps, pension, and health.
  • βœ“Sign-on bonuses of $2,500-8,000 are common at national telcos and contractors during fiber build cycles.

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Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers Salary by State

Best Cities (cost-adjusted) β†’

Salary Map β€” Click a state for details

$49K
$104Kβ–  No data

Top Paying States

Rhode Island
$104K
+40%
Massachusetts
$103K
+39%
New Jersey
$102K
+37%
New York
$101K
+36%
California
$98K
+32%
District of Columbia
$98K
+31%
Alaska
$97K
+31%
Connecticut
$97K
+31%
Delaware
$94K
+26%
Maine
$92K
+24%
Vertical line = national median. Click a state for full details.
StateMedianvs. National
Rhode Island$103,810+39.7%
Massachusetts$103,410+39.1%
New Jersey$102,090+37.3%
New York$100,960+35.8%
California$97,980+31.8%
District of Columbia$97,600+31.3%
Alaska$97,450+31.1%
Connecticut$97,140+30.7%
Delaware$93,850+26.3%
Maine$92,120+23.9%
1–10 of 51

Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers Salary by Metro Area

Metro AreaMedianvs. National
Watertown-Fort Drum, NY$108,670+46.2%
Barnstable Town, MA$107,380+44.5%
San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara, CA$107,310+44.4%
Glens Falls, NY$107,210+44.2%
Springfield, MA$105,220+41.6%
Providence-Warwick, RI-MA$103,810+39.7%
Trenton-Princeton, NJ$103,650+39.4%
San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont, CA$103,500+39.2%
Boston-Cambridge-Newton, MA-NH$103,090+38.7%
New York-Newark-Jersey City, NY-NJ$102,550+38.0%
1–10 of 238
Data Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS). Data reflects the most recent annual survey.
How does this compare to pro athletes?
A telecommunications line installers and repairers earning $74,330/year would need 802 years to match Stephen Curry's NBA salary, or 861 yearsto match Patrick Mahomes' NFL contract.
See all sports & celebrity salaries β†’
πŸ“ˆ See how telecommunications line installers and repairers salaries have changed over the past decade.
View Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers salary trend (2011–2024) β†’