# 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.

- **SOC code:** 49-2022.00
- **Canonical URL:** https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-2022-00
- **Also known as:** Central Office Technician, Install and Repair Technician, Service Technician, Telecommunications Technician, Broadband Technician, Combination Technician, Customer Service Technician (CST), Field Technician
- **Frame:** "AI exposure" means task overlap (how codifiable the work is), not jobs lost or a forecast. Every figure below is traced to a named public dataset.

## What this work is

**Core tasks** (O*NET):
- Demonstrate equipment to customers and explain its use, responding to any inquiries or complaints.
- Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools.
- Test repaired, newly installed, or updated equipment to ensure that it functions properly and conforms to specifications, using test equipment and observation.
- Climb poles and ladders, use truck-mounted booms, and enter areas such as manholes and cable vaults to install, maintain, or inspect equipment.
- Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks.
- Run wires between components and to outside cable systems, connecting them to wires from telephone poles or underground cable accesses.
- Drive crew trucks to and from work areas.
- Test connections to ensure that power supplies are adequate and that communications links function.
- Note differences in wire and cable colors so that work can be performed correctly.
- Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning.
- Remove loose wires and other debris after work is completed.
- Collaborate with other workers to locate and correct malfunctions.

## Skills, tools, capabilities

**Knowledge, skills & abilities** (O*NET, highest importance first):
- Customer and Personal Service _(knowledge)_
- Telecommunications _(knowledge)_
- Computers and Electronics _(knowledge)_
- English Language _(knowledge)_
- Troubleshooting _(transferable_skill)_
- Repairing _(transferable_skill)_
- Oral Comprehension _(ability)_
- Problem Sensitivity _(ability)_
- Near Vision _(ability)_
- Visual Color Discrimination _(ability)_
- Arm-Hand Steadiness _(ability)_
- Critical Thinking _(essential_skill)_

**Skills in demand:**
- Telecommunications _(Specialized Skill)_
- English Language _(Common Skill)_
- Finger Dexterity _(Common Skill)_
- Critical Thinking _(Common Skill)_
- Microsoft Excel _(Common Skill)_
- Information Ordering _(Specialized Skill)_
- Inductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Equipment Maintenance _(Specialized Skill)_
- Deductive Reasoning _(Common Skill)_
- Active Listening _(Common Skill)_
- Mathematics _(Common Skill)_
- Speech Recognition _(Specialized Skill)_

**Tools & technology:**
- Microsoft Excel _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Microsoft Office software _(hot technology, in demand)_
- Autodesk AutoCAD _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Outlook _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft PowerPoint _(hot technology)_
- Microsoft Word _(hot technology)_
- Apache Struts
- Cisco IOS
- Firewall software
- Fluke ClearSight Analyzer
- Fluke Networks Fluke TechEXPERT
- Fluke Networks TechAdvisor Field Access System

## AI exposure & outlook

- **AI task-overlap index:** 38th percentile (Moderate) across all occupations — composite of current-era exposure studies (ai-exposure-index-v1).
- **Overall AI exposure (Felten et al.):** 24th percentile (Low) — source: felten_aioe.
- **LLM task exposure, γ (OpenAI / Eloundou):** 34th percentile (Moderate) — source: eloundou_gamma.
- **AI assistant applicability (Microsoft):** 62nd percentile (Moderate) — source: microsoft_applicability.
- **Frey–Osborne (2013, historical computerization estimate):** 41st percentile — kept separate from current-era studies.
- **Remote-capable (Dingel–Neiman):** no — task structure, not who actually works remote.
- **Projected employment (BLS 2024–34):** -4.2% growth (Declining); 13.2k annual openings; 156.9k → 150.4k jobs.
- **Pay & employment (BLS OEWS, May 2024):** median $62,630; 153,890 employed.

## How people actually use AI here

Anthropic Economic Index — measured AI conversations mapped to this occupation's tasks:

- **Automation vs augmentation:** 46% automation, 23% augmentation (usage-weighted).
- **Autonomy median:** 4.0 (higher = AI acts more independently).
- **Dominant collaboration mode:** feedback loop.

**Tasks most handed to AI here:**
- Install updated software, and programs that maintain existing software or provide requested features such as time-correlated call routing. _(1.5% of measured AI use; directive)_
- Perform database verifications, using computers. _(0.8% of measured AI use; validation)_
- Diagnose and correct problems from remote locations, using special switchboards to find the sources of problems. _(0.3% of measured AI use; feedback loop)_

**Example prompts (honest phrasings of the tasks above — starting points, not endorsed instructions):**
- Help me install updated software, and programs that maintain existing software or provide requested features such as time-correlated call routing.
- Help me perform database verifications, using computers.
- Help me diagnose and correct problems from remote locations, using special switchboards to find the sources of problems.

## Sources

- **O*NET** (30.3) — U.S. Department of Labor / National Center for O*NET Development. https://www.onetcenter.org/database.html
- **BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS)** (May 2024) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/oes/
- **BLS Employment Projections** (2024–2034) — U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. https://www.bls.gov/emp/
- **Anthropic Economic Index** (v4 (2026-01-15) + v2 (2025-03-27)) — Anthropic. https://www.anthropic.com/economic-index
- **Microsoft “Working with AI”** (working-with-ai) — Microsoft Research. https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/
- **“GPTs are GPTs” (Eloundou et al.)** (arXiv 2303.10130) — OpenAI / academic. https://arxiv.org/abs/2303.10130
- **AI Occupational Exposure (AIOE)** (Felten, Raj & Seamans) — academic. https://github.com/AIOE-Data/AIOE
- **Frey & Osborne (2013)** (frey-osborne-automation) — academic. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/publications/the-future-of-employment/
- **Dingel & Neiman (2020)** (dingel-neiman-workathome) — academic. https://github.com/jdingel/DingelNeiman-workathome

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_Generated from Singulariki's joined dataset; data snapshot 2026-06-02T21:00:32.945303+00:00. https://singulariki.com/roles/role-49-2022-00_