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Outside plant technician vs tower climber

The differences between outside plant technicians and tower climbers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, an outside plant technician has an average salary of $42,451, which is higher than the $41,248 average annual salary of a tower climber.

The top three skills for an outside plant technician include ladders, outside plant and CDL. The most important skills for a tower climber are CPR, RF, and OSHA.

Outside plant technician vs tower climber overview

Outside Plant TechnicianTower Climber
Yearly salary$42,451$41,248
Hourly rate$20.41$19.83
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs67,23418,165
Job satisfaction-3
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 38%High School Diploma, 49%
Average age4545
Years of experience--

Outside plant technician vs tower climber salary

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

Outside Plant TechnicianTower Climber
Average salary$42,451$41,248
Salary rangeBetween $29,000 And $61,000Between $28,000 And $59,000
Highest paying City-Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state-California
Best paying company-General Dynamics Mission Systems
Best paying industry-Telecommunication

Differences between outside plant technician and tower climber education

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

Outside Plant TechnicianTower Climber
Most common degreeAssociate Degree, 38%High School Diploma, 49%
Most common majorElectrical EngineeringBusiness
Most common collegeStanford UniversityNew York University

Outside plant technician vs tower climber demographics

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

Outside Plant TechnicianTower Climber
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 96.8% Female, 3.2%Male, 95.7% Female, 4.3%
Race ratioBlack 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, 12.2% Unknown, 4.9% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 6.6% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%
LGBT Percentage6%6%

Differences between outside plant technician and tower climber 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.
  • Show more

Tower climber example responsibilities.

  • Utilize Anritsu site master in conducting tests on sites while accomplishing tasks including lighting upgrades and troubleshooting of light systems
  • Provide multiple PIM and sweep testing troubleshooting and also change transmission lines, antennas and weatherproofing.
  • Lead a crew that build RF broadcast tower's around the state.
  • Certify climber cpr and rescuer of cell towers.
  • Climb towers to install many different RF components.
  • Perform sweep tests and PIM tests on antennas.
  • Show more

Outside plant technician vs tower climber skills

Common outside plant technician skills
  • Ladders, 10%
  • Outside Plant, 10%
  • CDL, 8%
  • Test Equipment, 6%
  • Safety Procedures, 6%
  • OSHA, 5%
Common tower climber skills
  • CPR, 31%
  • RF, 29%
  • OSHA, 27%
  • Broadband, 8%
  • Safety Equipment, 1%
  • Communication Towers, 1%

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