Telecommunication equipment repairer vs central office technician

The differences between telecommunication equipment repairers and central office technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a telecommunication equipment repairer has an average salary of $55,491, which is higher than the $39,043 average annual salary of a central office technician.

The top three skills for a telecommunication equipment repairer include hand tools, switches and computer system. The most important skills for a central office technician are fiber optic cables, switches, and T1.

Telecommunication equipment repairer vs central office technician overview

	Telecommunication Equipment Repairer	Central Office Technician
Yearly salary	$55,491	$39,043
Hourly rate	$26.68	$18.77
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	17,830	79,138
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	Associate Degree, 41%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Telecommunication equipment repairer vs central office technician salary

Telecommunication equipment repairers and central office technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Telecommunication Equipment Repairer	Central Office Technician
Average salary	$55,491	$39,043
Salary range	Between $32,000 And $94,000	Between $24,000 And $63,000
Highest paying City	-	-
Highest paying state	-	-
Best paying company	-	-
Best paying industry	-	-

Differences between telecommunication equipment repairer and central office technician education

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

	Telecommunication Equipment Repairer	Central Office Technician
Most common degree	High School Diploma, 32%	Associate Degree, 41%
Most common major	Business	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Inter American University of Puerto Rico Ponce	University of Pennsylvania

Telecommunication equipment repairer vs central office technician demographics

Here are the differences between telecommunication equipment repairers' and central office technicians' demographics:

	Telecommunication Equipment Repairer	Central Office Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 94.6% Female, 5.4%	Male, 79.5% Female, 20.5%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 14.3% Unknown, 4.4% Hispanic or Latino, 17.9% Asian, 6.2% White, 56.6% 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 Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between telecommunication equipment repairer and central office technician duties and responsibilities

Telecommunication equipment repairer example responsibilities.

Conduct maintenance in normal, dangerous, field and combat working environments.
Vary responsibilities including maintenance, calibration and repair of all U.S. military communication and encryption equipment.
Update inventory and customer database information.

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.

Telecommunication equipment repairer vs central office technician skills

Common telecommunication equipment repairer skills

Hand Tools, 17%
Switches, 15%
Computer System, 13%
Test Equipment, 13%
Routine Maintenance, 9%
System Components, 8%

Common central office technician skills

Fiber Optic Cables, 8%
Switches, 7%
T1, 5%
Provisioning, 5%
DS3, 4%
IP, 4%

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Telecommunication Equipment Repairer
Telecommunication Equipment Repairer vs Central Office Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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