Telephone technician vs telecommunications technician

The differences between telephone technicians and telecommunications technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a telephone technician has an average salary of $45,477, which is higher than the $41,935 average annual salary of a telecommunications technician.

The top three skills for a telephone technician include fiber optic, phone system and PBX. The most important skills for a telecommunications technician are broadband, customer service, and fiber optic cables.

Telephone technician vs telecommunications technician overview

	Telephone Technician	Telecommunications Technician
Yearly salary	$45,477	$41,935
Hourly rate	$21.86	$20.16
Growth rate	8%	8%
Number of jobs	45,522	70,494
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 36%	Associate Degree, 35%
Average age	45	45
Years of experience	-	-

Telephone technician vs telecommunications technician salary

Telephone technicians and telecommunications technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Telephone Technician	Telecommunications Technician
Average salary	$45,477	$41,935
Salary range	Between $34,000 And $59,000	Between $31,000 And $55,000
Highest paying City	-	Seattle, WA
Highest paying state	-	New Jersey
Best paying company	-	Nebraska Public Power District
Best paying industry	-	Technology

Differences between telephone technician and telecommunications technician education

There are a few differences between a telephone technician and a telecommunications technician in terms of educational background:

	Telephone Technician	Telecommunications Technician
Most common degree	Associate Degree, 36%	Associate Degree, 35%
Most common major	Electrical Engineering	Electrical Engineering
Most common college	Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon	Inter American University of Puerto Rico Bayamon

Telephone technician vs telecommunications technician demographics

Here are the differences between telephone technicians' and telecommunications technicians' demographics:

	Telephone Technician	Telecommunications Technician
Average age	45	45
Gender ratio	Male, 88.2% Female, 11.8%	Male, 89.8% Female, 10.2%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 11.5% Unknown, 4.8% Hispanic or Latino, 19.0% Asian, 6.4% White, 57.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.6%	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%
LGBT Percentage	6%	6%

Differences between telephone technician and telecommunications technician duties and responsibilities

Telephone technician example responsibilities.

Implement and manage UHF radio base stations, repeaters, and command network, effectively linking all regional headquarters.
Pull CAT5 cable from workstations to closets, and connect to patch panels.
Install and terminate CAT5, CAT6 and multi-pair cabling in businesses for new or retrofit data network.
Set up MDF s and IDF's to include racks and trays, terminate both copper and fiber.
Install equipment racks, ladder racks, cable management systems along with the electronic data switches and associate hardware.
Install trunks lines, T1's switches (small and large).

Telecommunications technician example responsibilities.

Project complete while simultaneously managing VoIP project.
Install cable television, high-speed internet, routers, VOIP phone services, and data services to residential and commercial clients.
Provide technical and operational guidance and direction to the DoD customer in establishing and operating video teleconferencing systems.
Work with OSP to troubleshoot and repair faulty cable plant.
Terminate and install telecommunications cabling such as cat5E, fiber, and coaxial
Train call center personnel on use of CMS supervisor reports and agent monitoring.

Telephone technician vs telecommunications technician skills

Common telephone technician skills

Fiber Optic, 10%
Phone System, 9%
PBX, 7%
System Installation, 5%
Telephone Lines, 5%
Avaya, 4%

Common telecommunications technician skills

Broadband, 14%
Customer Service, 7%
Fiber Optic Cables, 6%
Telephone Systems, 5%
Hand Tools, 5%
Telecommunication, 5%

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Telephone Technician
Telephone Technician vs Telecommunications Technician

Updated January 8, 2025

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