Central office equipment installer vs outside plant technician

The differences between central office equipment installers and outside plant technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a central office equipment installer has an average salary of $48,855, which is higher than the $42,451 average annual salary of an outside plant technician.

The top three skills for a central office equipment installer include hand tools, AC and fiber optic. The most important skills for an outside plant technician are ladders, outside plant, and CDL.

Central office equipment installer vs outside plant technician overview

	Central Office Equipment Installer	Outside Plant Technician
Yearly salary	$48,855	$42,451
Hourly rate	$23.49	$20.41
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	62,884	67,234
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 35%	Associate Degree, 38%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Central office equipment installer vs outside plant technician salary

Central office equipment installers and outside plant technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Central Office Equipment Installer	Outside Plant Technician
Average salary	$48,855	$42,451
Salary range	Between $35,000 And $67,000	Between $29,000 And $61,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between central office equipment installer and outside plant technician education

There are a few differences between a central office equipment installer and an outside plant technician in terms of educational background:

	Central Office Equipment Installer	Outside Plant Technician
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 35%	Associate Degree, 38%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon	Stanford University

Central office equipment installer vs outside plant technician demographics

Here are the differences between central office equipment installers' and outside plant technicians' demographics:

	Central Office Equipment Installer	Outside Plant Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 93.3% Female, 6.7%	Male, 96.8% Female, 3.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.6% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 18.0% Asian, 6.3% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	Black or African American, 14.8% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.0% Asian, 6.2% White, 56.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between central office equipment installer and outside plant technician duties and responsibilities

Central office equipment installer example responsibilities.

Install and maintain all special circuits, DS0 and DS1 levels.
Maintain local area network (LAN) to ensure smooth operations.
Install fiber multiplexers, carrier, Nortel and Ericsson switch and power.
Plan and implement migration of legacy telephone services to VoIP switching platforms.
Install DC power and grounding cabling inside the data center for TDM and Ethernet gear.
Test and turned-up DS0, DS1, SS7 trunks, PRI trunks, and data communication circuits.

Outside plant technician example responsibilities.

Manage and administer documentation of OSP fiber optic plant in support of customer projects, network planning, and municipality requirements.
Move and/or lift items such as ladders, tools, air tanks, cable reels, and test equipment
Install residential and business telephone lines, including premise CAT5 wiring and jack work.
Perform construction work such as digging holes, installing inner duct in various types of conduit systems and open excavations.
Organize projects that include open excavations, placing cables, air pipes and inner duct in various types of conduit systems.
Install and repair T1 and T3 systems.

Central office equipment installer vs outside plant technician skills

Common central office equipment installer skills

Hand Tools, 15%
AC, 14%
Fiber Optic, 11%
Switches, 10%
Stitching, 8%
Rectifiers, 6%

Common outside plant technician skills

Ladders, 10%
Outside Plant, 10%
CDL, 8%
Test Equipment, 6%
Safety Procedures, 6%
OSHA, 5%

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Central Office Equipment Installer vs Outside Plant Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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