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Central office technician vs field technician

The differences between central office technicians and field technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a central office technician has an average salary of $39,043, which is higher than the $37,520 average annual salary of a field technician.

The top three skills for a central office technician include fiber optic cables, switches and T1. The most important skills for a field technician are customer service, ladders, and test equipment.

Central office technician vs field technician overview

Central Office TechnicianField Technician
Yearly salary$39,043$37,520
Hourly rate$18.77$18.04
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs79,138123,149
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 41%Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Average age4544
Years of experience-12

Central office technician vs field technician salary

Central office technicians and field technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Central Office TechnicianField Technician
Average salary$39,043$37,520
Salary rangeBetween $24,000 And $63,000Between $28,000 And $48,000
Highest paying City-Washington, DC
Highest paying state-Connecticut
Best paying company-DCP Midstream
Best paying industry-Energy

Differences between central office technician and field technician education

There are a few differences between a central office technician and a field technician in terms of educational background:

Central Office TechnicianField Technician
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 41%Bachelor's Degree, 40%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of Pennsylvania-

Central office technician vs field technician demographics

Here are the differences between central office technicians' and field technicians' demographics:

Central Office TechnicianField Technician
Average age4544
Gender ratioMale, 79.5% Female, 20.5%Male, 88.5% Female, 11.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 5.1% Hispanic or Latino, 15.7% Asian, 7.3% White, 58.0% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black or African American, 4.5% Unknown, 3.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 1.7% White, 71.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.7%
LGBT Percentage6%1%

Differences between central office technician and field technician duties and responsibilities

Central office technician example responsibilities.

  • Manage assigned Ericsson AXE patch upgrades and retrofits for all AXE sites.
  • Assist in managing CDMA network, Voice/EVDO circuit's layouts, CDM circuit inventory and roll over's for cell sites.
  • Install all Nortel DMS series equipment.
  • Operate power-meters, spectrum analyzers, oscilloscopes, and various RF test equipment.
  • Install and troubleshoot telecommunications circuits and devices including legacy, asynchronous, SONET, and Ethernet equipment.
  • Associate duties include running cable, lacing, stitching, wire wrapping, mounting bays, etc.
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Field technician example responsibilities.

  • Lead training, operations, user hardware and software support, and logbook oversight.
  • Manage network reliability, capacity and performance in conjunction with RF engineering establish guidelines.
  • Install cable to data network, pulling cat5, cat6 to racks, patch panel patch cords.
  • Provide desktop support and troubleshoot network communications issue at customer homes.
  • Install AWS and LTE Equiptment.
  • Work with NOC's for trouble issues.
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Central office technician vs field technician skills

Common central office technician skills
  • Fiber Optic Cables, 8%
  • Switches, 7%
  • T1, 5%
  • Provisioning, 5%
  • DS3, 4%
  • IP, 4%
Common field technician skills
  • Customer Service, 11%
  • Ladders, 9%
  • Test Equipment, 7%
  • Hand Tools, 6%
  • Smartphones, 4%
  • Preventative Maintenance, 4%

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