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Headend technician vs central office technician

The differences between headend technicians and central office technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a headend technician has an average salary of $41,700, which is higher than the $39,043 average annual salary of a central office technician.

The top three skills for a headend technician include RF, troubleshoot and IP. The most important skills for a central office technician are fiber optic cables, switches, and T1.

Headend technician vs central office technician overview

Headend TechnicianCentral Office Technician
Yearly salary$41,700$39,043
Hourly rate$20.05$18.77
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs40,73179,138
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 46%Associate Degree, 41%
Average age4545
Years of experience--

Headend technician vs central office technician salary

Headend technicians and central office technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Headend TechnicianCentral Office Technician
Average salary$41,700$39,043
Salary rangeBetween $32,000 And $53,000Between $24,000 And $63,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between headend technician and central office technician education

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

Headend TechnicianCentral Office Technician
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 46%Associate Degree, 41%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeMassachusetts Institute of TechnologyUniversity of Pennsylvania

Headend technician vs central office technician demographics

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

Headend TechnicianCentral Office Technician
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 94.4% Female, 5.6%Male, 79.5% Female, 20.5%
Race ratioBlack or African American, 11.7% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 6.2% White, 58.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%Black 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%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between headend technician and central office technician duties and responsibilities

Headend technician example responsibilities.

  • Project complete while simultaneously managing VoIP project.
  • Assist the NOC and other technical support departments in isolating and repairing video and data services.
  • Home and apartment CATV installation.
  • Experience with various vendor telephony i.e.
  • Perform security audits on each CMTS.
  • Add new service groups and transmitters.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Headend technician vs central office technician skills

Common headend technician skills
  • RF, 20%
  • Troubleshoot, 11%
  • IP, 7%
  • Digital Video, 6%
  • FCC, 5%
  • Fiber Optic, 5%
Common central office technician skills
  • Fiber Optic Cables, 8%
  • Switches, 7%
  • T1, 5%
  • Provisioning, 5%
  • DS3, 4%
  • IP, 4%

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