Will AI replace telecommunications technicians?
Updated
Telecommunications technicians score 32 of 100 for AI exposure. 69% of their task time still needs a person. AI can do 6% today and speed up another 25%.
- 6% AI can do it
- 25% AI helps
- 69% Needs a person
Moderate exposure
Lower than 59% of the 923 occupations we scored.
Task by task
We graded 39 tasks, listed here from most to least exposed. AI can do 2 of them today, speeds up 12 and leaves 25 to people.
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Perform database verifications, using computers. Routine database checks on computers suit automated verification well. | 78% AI can do it |
| Maintain computer and manual records pertaining to facilities and equipment. Keeping digital equipment records is routine writing AI handles well. | 72% AI can do it |
| Refer to manufacturers' manuals to obtain maintenance instructions pertaining to specific malfunctions. AI can quickly pull manual steps for a specific fault. | 65% AI helps |
| Review manufacturer's instructions, manuals, technical specifications, building permits, and ordinances to determine communication equipment requirements and procedures. AI parses manuals and permit rules, a person applies them. | 60% AI helps |
| Analyze test readings, computer printouts, and trouble reports to determine equipment repair needs and required repair methods. AI can sift readings and trouble reports, a tech confirms. | 55% AI helps |
| Program computerized switches and switchboards to provide requested features. Switch feature programming is mostly config code AI can draft. | 50% AI helps |
| Install updated software and programs that maintain existing software or provide requested features, such as time-correlated call routing. Installing software updates is scriptable, but needs checks. | 50% AI helps |
| Diagnose and correct problems from remote locations, using special switchboards to find the sources of problems. Remote fault finding is digital, AI can suggest likely sources. | 45% AI helps |
| Enter codes needed to correct electronic switching system programming. Entering correction codes is a command task AI can suggest. | 45% AI helps |
| Examine telephone transmission facilities to determine requirements for new or additional telephone services. Checking facility records for capacity is analysis AI speeds up. | 45% AI helps |
Show the other 29 tasks
| Task | AI exposure |
|---|---|
| Designate cables available for use. Checking records for free cables can be partly automated. | 40% AI helps |
| Provide input into the design and manufacturing of new equipment. AI can help brainstorm and review designs, engineers decide. | 35% AI helps |
| Communicate with bases, using telephones or two-way radios to receive instructions or technical advice, or to report equipment status. Reports can be drafted, but live radio calls need people. | 30% AI helps |
| Request support from technical service centers when on-site procedures fail to solve installation or maintenance problems. AI drafts the ticket, but a person makes the call. | 25% AI helps |
| Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks. Physically assembling and wiring switching gear is mostly manual work. | 18% Needs a person |
| Adjust or modify equipment to enhance equipment performance or to respond to customer requests. Modifying equipment for performance or requests needs physical work. | 18% Needs a person |
| Demonstrate equipment to customers and explain its use, responding to any inquiries or complaints. Live customer demos and complaint handling need a person present. | 15% Needs a person |
| Test repaired, newly installed, or updated equipment to ensure that it functions properly and conforms to specifications, using test equipment and observation. Testing installed equipment with meters and observation is physical work. | 15% Needs a person |
| Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning. Regular equipment inspection is mostly physical, with some remote monitoring. | 15% Needs a person |
| Determine viability of sites through observation, and discuss site locations and construction requirements with customers. Judging sites on location and talking with customers needs presence. | 15% Needs a person |
| Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools. Meter testing of physical circuits needs a technician on site. | 12% Needs a person |
| Test connections to ensure that power supplies are adequate and that communications links function. Checking power and links needs a technician on site. | 12% Needs a person |
| Collaborate with other workers to locate and correct malfunctions. Crew teamwork on site to find faults stays with people. | 12% Needs a person |
| Address special issues or situations, such as illegal or unauthorized use of equipment, or cases of electrical or acoustic shock. Shock incidents and misuse cases need human judgment and accountability. | 12% Needs a person |
| Repair or replace faulty equipment, such as defective and damaged telephones, wires, switching system components, and associated equipment. Swapping faulty equipment in the field requires physical handling. | 10% Needs a person |
| Note differences in wire and cable colors so that work can be performed correctly. Reading wire colors needs a person looking at real cables. | 8% Needs a person |
| Remove and remake connections to change circuit layouts, following work orders or diagrams. Rewiring circuits on physical frames needs a technician's hands. | 8% Needs a person |
| Run wires between components and to outside cable systems, connecting them to wires from telephone poles or underground cable accesses. Running cable between components and outside lines is physical labor. | 5% Needs a person |
| Route and connect cables and lines to switches, switchboard equipment, and distributing frames, using wire-wrap guns or soldering irons to connect wires to terminals. Wrapping and soldering wires to terminals is physical hand work. | 5% Needs a person |
| Measure distances from landmarks to identify exact installation sites for equipment. Measuring distances from landmarks requires being on site. | 5% Needs a person |
| Install telephone station equipment, such as intercommunication systems, transmitters, receivers, relays, and ringers, and related apparatus, such as coin collectors, telephone booths, and switching-key equipment. Mounting phones, relays, and booths is physical installation work. | 5% Needs a person |
| Remove and replace plug-in circuit equipment. Swapping circuit cards in and out is physical work. | 4% Needs a person |
| Perform routine maintenance on equipment, including adjusting and lubricating components and painting worn or exposed areas. Lubricating and painting equipment is physical maintenance work. | 4% Needs a person |
| Remove loose wires and other debris after work is completed. Picking up loose wire and debris is physical cleanup work. | 3% Needs a person |
| Clean and maintain tools, test equipment, and motor vehicles. Cleaning tools and vehicles is physical upkeep work. | 3% Needs a person |
| Drive crew trucks to and from work areas. Driving crew trucks needs a licensed person at the wheel. | 3% Needs a person |
| Clean switches and replace contact points, using vacuum hoses, solvents, and hand tools. Vacuuming and cleaning contact points is physical work. | 3% Needs a person |
| Climb poles and ladders, use truck-mounted booms, and enter areas such as manholes and cable vaults to install, maintain, or inspect equipment. Climbing poles and entering manholes is physical work outdoors. | 2% Needs a person |
| Dig holes or trenches as necessary for equipment installation and access. Digging trenches and holes is heavy outdoor physical labor. | 2% Needs a person |
How telecommunications technicians compare
All occupations (923)
Installation, maintenance and repair (50)
Pay and outlook in the US
- Median pay
- $63,890 a year, May 2025
- People employed
- 140,920 in the US, May 2025
- Projected change in jobs
- -3.3% from 2024 to 2034
Skills to build
- Configure switch features in Cisco IOS on site
- Climb poles and enter manholes to install equipment
- Diagnose customer premises faults with test equipment
- Mark as-built changes on AutoCAD drawings
- Check network locations against GIS system records
Safer roles nearby
5 related occupations with lower scores.
Questions about telecommunications technicians and AI
Will telecommunications technicians be replaced by AI?
Partly. About 2 in 10 working hours go to tasks AI can already do, mostly database verification and maintaining equipment records. Climbing poles, digging trenches and repairing equipment on site stay with people because they need a person physically at the equipment.
Which tasks is AI taking over for telecommunications technicians?
Database verification and equipment record keeping are the most exposed, with exposure scores of 78 and 72. AI can check records against stored data and draft the entries, so the technician's role shifts to confirming results. Pulling manual steps for a specific fault, scored 65, is also quick for AI.
Which tasks stay human for telecommunications technicians?
Climbing poles, digging trenches and cleaning switch contact points each score 2 or 3 on exposure, the lowest in the job. Each needs a person physically on site, often outdoors or in a manhole. Driving crew trucks also stays with a licensed driver at the wheel.
How can telecommunications technicians stay valuable?
Keep the physical fault work, since climbing and manhole entry score 2 on exposure. Learn Cisco IOS so you can configure switch features that AI drafts, then test them on live gear. Use test equipment readings and GIS records to confirm what AI flags in trouble reports.
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