Outside plant technician vs communications technician

The differences between outside plant technicians and communications technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a communications technician has an average salary of $52,222, which is higher than the $42,451 average annual salary of an outside plant technician.

The top three skills for an outside plant technician include ladders, outside plant and CDL. The most important skills for a communications technician are customer service, rehabilitation, and hand tools.

Outside plant technician vs communications technician overview

	Outside Plant Technician	Communications Technician
Yearly salary	$42,451	$52,222
Hourly rate	$20.41	$25.11
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	67,234	125,698
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Outside plant technician vs communications technician salary

Outside plant technicians and communications technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Outside Plant Technician	Communications Technician
Average salary	$42,451	$52,222
Salary range	Between $29,000 And $61,000	Between $29,000 And $91,000
Highest paying City	-	Tualatin, OR
Highest paying state	-	Washington
Best paying company	-	Pacifi
Best paying industry	-	Government

Differences between outside plant technician and communications technician education

There are a few differences between an outside plant technician and a communications technician in terms of educational background:

	Outside Plant Technician	Communications Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 38%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Outside plant technician vs communications technician demographics

Here are the differences between outside plant technicians' and communications technicians' demographics:

	Outside Plant Technician	Communications Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 96.8% Female, 3.2%	Male, 83.9% Female, 16.1%
Race ratio	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%	Black or African American, 13.2% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 17.8% Asian, 6.2% White, 57.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between outside plant technician and communications technician duties and responsibilities

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.

Communications technician example responsibilities.

Manage and maintain communications for users on FMC's IBM SNA network.
Manage telecommunications installation and repair for hospital Nortel network.
Complete installs and ensure that they are up to code base on current NEC, NESC, and OSHA regulations.
Install and configure Cisco routers.
Perform installations of Safeway POS systems.
Test cable lines and equipment to NEC standards.

Outside plant technician vs communications technician skills

Common outside plant technician skills

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

Common communications technician skills

Customer Service, 9%
Rehabilitation, 9%
Hand Tools, 9%
Fiber Optic, 9%
Patch Panels, 5%
Telephone Systems, 4%

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Installation, Maintenance and Repair Industry
Outside Plant Technician
Outside Plant Technician vs Communications Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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