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Tower hand vs central office technician

The differences between tower hands and central office technicians can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a central office technician has an average salary of $39,043, which is higher than the $38,967 average annual salary of a tower hand.

The top three skills for a tower hand include CPR, RF and OSHA. The most important skills for a central office technician are fiber optic cables, switches, and T1.

Tower hand vs central office technician overview

Tower HandCentral Office Technician
Yearly salary$38,967$39,043
Hourly rate$18.73$18.77
Growth rate8%8%
Number of jobs7,55079,138
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 54%Associate Degree, 41%
Average age4545
Years of experience--

Tower hand vs central office technician salary

Tower hands and central office technicians have different pay scales, as shown below.

Tower HandCentral Office Technician
Average salary$38,967$39,043
Salary rangeBetween $25,000 And $59,000Between $24,000 And $63,000
Highest paying City--
Highest paying state--
Best paying company--
Best paying industry--

Differences between tower hand and central office technician education

There are a few differences between a tower hand and a central office technician in terms of educational background:

Tower HandCentral Office Technician
Most common degreeHigh School Diploma, 54%Associate Degree, 41%
Most common majorBusinessElectrical Engineering
Most common collegeNew York UniversityUniversity of Pennsylvania

Tower hand vs central office technician demographics

Here are the differences between tower hands' and central office technicians' demographics:

Tower HandCentral Office Technician
Average age4545
Gender ratioMale, 96.1% Female, 3.9%Male, 79.5% Female, 20.5%
Race ratioBlack 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%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 Percentage6%6%

Differences between tower hand and central office technician duties and responsibilities

Tower hand example responsibilities.

  • Do grounding, terminations, fastening, proper bolting, support of leads, and cad welding.
  • Utilize Anritsu site master in conducting tests on sites while accomplishing tasks including lighting upgrades and troubleshooting of light systems
  • Operate all equipment and hand tools according to OSHA safety rules.
  • Complete installation of UMTS and GSM antenna's, lines, connectors, TMA's, jumpers and support hardware.
  • Assist sweep and PIM testing.
  • Perform Anritsu testing and fiber tests on hybrids.
  • Show more

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.
  • Show more

Tower hand vs central office technician skills

Common tower hand skills
  • CPR, 16%
  • RF, 14%
  • OSHA, 14%
  • Demolition, 13%
  • Hand Tools, 11%
  • Transmission Lines, 7%
Common central office technician skills
  • Fiber Optic Cables, 8%
  • Switches, 7%
  • T1, 5%
  • Provisioning, 5%
  • DS3, 4%
  • IP, 4%

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