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The differences between telecommunications technicians and tower hands can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a telecommunications technician has an average salary of $41,935, which is higher than the $38,967 average annual salary of a tower hand.
The top three skills for a telecommunications technician include broadband, customer service and fiber optic cables. The most important skills for a tower hand are CPR, RF, and OSHA.
| Telecommunications Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Yearly salary | $41,935 | $38,967 |
| Hourly rate | $20.16 | $18.73 |
| Growth rate | 8% | 8% |
| Number of jobs | 70,494 | 7,550 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 54% |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Years of experience | - | - |
A telecommunications technician is responsible for maintaining the company's telecommunication networks, including communication systems and installation of internet lines and cables. Telecommunications technicians inspect the efficiency of the organization's communication networks, ensuring its optimal performance to support the business' operations. They also upgrade the systems, run diagnostic tests for newly installed cables, and create detailed reports of preventive maintenance processes for reference. A telecommunications technician must have excellent knowledge of the technological industry, including the end-users' and clients' needs to determine the best procedures to maintain the reliability of existing systems.
A tower hand is an individual who climbs towers or poles to install, repair, and perform routine maintenance on electrical equipment. Tower hands are required to climb up very tall structures to perform maintenance on equipment such as power lines, cell tower components, or radio antenna equipment. They must perform audits on their climbing equipment so that they can determine the quality of their equipment as well as avoid defects. Tower hands must be competent climbers so that they can safely climb towers while carrying heavy equipment.
Telecommunications technicians and tower hands have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Telecommunications Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Average salary | $41,935 | $38,967 |
| Salary range | Between $31,000 And $55,000 | Between $25,000 And $59,000 |
| Highest paying City | Seattle, WA | - |
| Highest paying state | New Jersey | - |
| Best paying company | Nebraska Public Power District | - |
| Best paying industry | Technology | - |
There are a few differences between a telecommunications technician and a tower hand in terms of educational background:
| Telecommunications Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Most common degree | Associate Degree, 35% | High School Diploma, 54% |
| Most common major | Electrical Engineering | Business |
| Most common college | Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon | New York University |
Here are the differences between telecommunications technicians' and tower hands' demographics:
| Telecommunications Technician | Tower Hand | |
| Average age | 45 | 45 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2% | Male, 96.1% Female, 3.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.0% Unknown, 4.7% Hispanic or Latino, 18.1% Asian, 6.2% White, 57.3% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% | Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 19.1% Asian, 6.4% White, 57.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6% |
| LGBT Percentage | 6% | 6% |