Will AI replace Telecommunications Line Installers and Repairers?
AI reaches little of this job’s work.
4/100
Low exposure
More exposed to AI than 10% of US workers.
- AI already used in
- 0% of the work
- As AI tools mature: up to
- 8% of the work
What the job involves
Install and repair telecommunications cable, including fiber optics.
Where AI reaches the work
The job’s main tasks, heaviest first, by how far AI reaches them.
Within reach(1)
- Inspect or test lines or cables, recording and analyzing test results, to assess transmission characteristics and locate faults or malfunctions.
Out of reach(18)
- Splice cables, using hand tools, epoxy, or mechanical equipment.
- Clean or maintain tools or test equipment.
- Access specific areas to string lines, or install terminal boxes, auxiliary equipment, or appliances, using bucket trucks, climbing poles or ladders, or entering tunnels, trenches, or crawl spaces.
- Lay underground cable directly in trenches, or string it through conduits running through trenches.
- Travel to customers' premises to install, maintain, or repair audio and visual electronic reception equipment or accessories.
and 13 more
Also called
Cable Splicer · Cable TV Installer (Cable Television Installer) · Cable TV Installer · Splicer · Cable Installer · Line Installer · Cable Tech (Cable Technician) · Cable TV Tech (Cable Television Technician)
Related jobs
- Radio, Cellular, and Tower Equipment Installers and Repairers6/100
- Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers, Transportation Equipment16/100
- Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers20/100
- Audiovisual Equipment Installers and Repairers9/100
- Electrical Power-Line Installers and Repairers0/100
What these numbers mean
The score is the share of this job’s work, weighted by how important and frequent each task is, that AI could do in half the time: tasks an AI model could do alone count in full, tasks that need software built on AI count half.
“AI already used” is the share of the work in tasks where people are recorded using AI today. “As AI tools mature” counts every task AI could halve, with or without extra software.
The percentile compares the score with every job’s, weighted by how many people in the US do each one. Exposure means AI could change how the work is done, not that the job goes away. These are estimates for the typical job, not predictions.
Sources
- O*NET 31.0 Database, U.S. Department of Labor, Employment and Training Administration
- GPTs are GPTs: Labor market impact potential of LLMs (task labels), Eloundou, Manning, Mishkin & Rock (2023), OpenAI and University of Pennsylvania
- Anthropic Economic Index: labor market impacts (task penetration), Anthropic
- Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2025 (national and metropolitan areas), U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics