AI exposure: Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers
Install, set up, rearrange, or remove switching, distribution, routing, and dialing equipment used in central offices or headends. Service or repair telephone, cable television, Internet, and other communications equipment on customers' property. May install communications equipment or communications wiring in buildings.
Reading this score
computedAt 21.6% of weighted task load, Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers sits at the 40th percentile, below the point where a job's centre of gravity has moved. 65.6% of what this role does is untouched, meaning current systems cannot produce that work at all, whatever the commercial incentive.
What holds the line here is embodiment. Across this occupation's 40 tasks it averages 2.11 out of 3, the highest of the five friction dimensions. In plain terms, the work has to happen in physical space. A language model cannot move matter. Until the robotics to do this work is both good enough and cheap enough to deploy widely, capability in software does not reach it.
The most exposed thing this job does is Enter codes needed to correct electronic switching system programming, at 86.7%. The least is Install telephone station equipment, at 0.0%. A gap of 86.7% between two parts of the same job is the reason this index publishes at task level. An occupation-wide number would have hidden both.
Within installation, maintenance and repair occupations, this one is more exposed than most. The median across the 50 roles in the group is 12.8%, and only 10 of them score higher than this. Occupational families are not uniform, and the spread inside them is often wider than the gap between them.
What would move this score. Of 40 tasks, 16 are currently banded exposed, 2 assisted and 22 untouched. For that distribution to shift materially would take robotics cheap and reliable enough to deploy at scale, not a better language model. The score is re-computed every quarter against a fresh capability reference, and the change is published rather than quietly applied.
Where the score comes from
judgedEvery task is scored through the standardised work activities it maps to. These are this occupation’s averages on the six rubric dimensions. Capability is what AI can do; the other five are what stands in the way.
| Dimension | Mean | Scale |
|---|---|---|
| Capability | 1.45 | 0-4 |
| Embodiment | 2.11 | 0-3 |
| Presence | 0.54 | 0-3 |
| Accountability | 0.96 | 0-3 |
| Context | 1.34 | 0-3 |
| Verification cost | 1.35 | 0-3 |
Task by task
40 tasks, O*NET 31.0| Task | Exposed | Assisted | Untouched | Importance | Band |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Enter codes needed to correct electronic switching system programming. | 86.7% | 13.3% | 0.0% | 3.36 | exposed |
| Maintain computer and manual records pertaining to facilities and equipment. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.81 | exposed |
| Demonstrate equipment to customers and explain its use, responding to any inquiries or complaints. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.71 | exposed |
| Perform database verifications, using computers. | 73.3% | 26.7% | 0.0% | 3.63 | exposed |
| Analyze test readings, computer printouts, and trouble reports to determine equipment repair needs and required repair methods. | 66.7% | 33.3% | 0.0% | 3.46 | exposed |
| Designate cables available for use. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 3.49 | exposed |
| Refer to manufacturers' manuals to obtain maintenance instructions pertaining to specific malfunctions. | 55.0% | 20.0% | 25.0% | 3.47 | exposed |
| Provide input into the design and manufacturing of new equipment. | 40.0% | 35.0% | 25.0% | 3.24 | exposed |
| Address special issues or situations, such as illegal or unauthorized use of equipment, or cases of electrical or acoustic shock. | 35.0% | 40.0% | 25.0% | 3.06 | assisted |
| Install updated software and programs that maintain existing software or provide requested features, such as time-correlated call routing. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.33 | exposed |
| Program computerized switches and switchboards to provide requested features. | 33.3% | 16.7% | 50.0% | 3.44 | exposed |
| Note differences in wire and cable colors so that work can be performed correctly. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.37 | exposed |
| Collaborate with other workers to locate and correct malfunctions. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 4.00 | exposed |
| Determine viability of sites through observation, and discuss site locations and construction requirements with customers. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.64 | exposed |
| Review manufacturer's instructions, manuals, technical specifications, building permits, and ordinances to determine communication equipment requirements and procedures. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.61 | exposed |
| Communicate with bases, using telephones or two-way radios to receive instructions or technical advice, or to report equipment status. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.53 | exposed |
| Request support from technical service centers when on-site procedures fail to solve installation or maintenance problems. | 26.7% | 23.3% | 50.0% | 3.51 | exposed |
| Diagnose and correct problems from remote locations, using special switchboards to find the sources of problems. | 23.3% | 26.7% | 50.0% | 3.54 | assisted |
| Test connections to ensure that power supplies are adequate and that communications links function. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.85 | untouched |
| Test repaired, newly installed, or updated equipment to ensure that it functions properly and conforms to specifications, using test equipment and observation. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.71 | untouched |
| Adjust or modify equipment to enhance equipment performance or to respond to customer requests. | 15.0% | 10.0% | 75.0% | 3.65 | untouched |
| Inspect equipment on a regular basis to ensure proper functioning. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Examine telephone transmission facilities to determine requirements for new or additional telephone services. | 13.3% | 11.7% | 75.0% | 3.35 | untouched |
| Test circuits and components of malfunctioning telecommunications equipment to isolate sources of malfunctions, using test meters, circuit diagrams, polarity probes, and other hand tools. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 4.22 | untouched |
| Place intercept circuits on terminals to handle vacant lines in central office installations. | 10.0% | 15.0% | 75.0% | 2.67 | untouched |
| Drive crew trucks to and from work areas. | 8.3% | 16.7% | 75.0% | 4.17 | untouched |
| Assemble and install communication equipment such as data and telephone communication lines, wiring, switching equipment, wiring frames, power apparatus, computer systems, and networks. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.13 | untouched |
| Run wires between components and to outside cable systems, connecting them to wires from telephone poles or underground cable accesses. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 4.05 | untouched |
| Climb poles and ladders, use truck-mounted booms, and enter areas such as manholes and cable vaults to install, maintain, or inspect equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.95 | untouched |
| Repair or replace faulty equipment, such as defective and damaged telephones, wires, switching system components, and associated equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.83 | untouched |
| Remove and replace plug-in circuit equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.81 | untouched |
| Clean and maintain tools, test equipment, and motor vehicles. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.68 | untouched |
| Remove and remake connections to change circuit layouts, following work orders or diagrams. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.57 | untouched |
| 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. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.53 | untouched |
| Remove loose wires and other debris after work is completed. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.51 | untouched |
| Measure distances from landmarks to identify exact installation sites for equipment. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.40 | untouched |
| Dig holes or trenches as necessary for equipment installation and access. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.14 | untouched |
| Perform routine maintenance on equipment, including adjusting and lubricating components and painting worn or exposed areas. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.12 | untouched |
| Clean switches and replace contact points, using vacuum hoses, solvents, and hand tools. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.64 | untouched |
| 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. | 0.0% | 0.0% | 100.0% | 3.02 | untouched |
Task text and importance ratings sourced from O*NET 31.0. Shares computed. The occupation score is the importance-weighted mean.
Occupations either side of this one
The four closest scores in the same occupational family, then the four closest anywhere in the index.
Read this carefully. Exposure is not displacement. A high score means current AI systems can produce this work, not that anyone will stop paying a person to do it. Adoption depends on economics, regulation and inertia that this index deliberately does not model. How the score is built.
What this means in practice
Most of this work is not reachable by current systems, so the immediate pressure is on the administrative edges of the role rather than its core: the scheduling, the reporting, the written records. That is where time is recovered.