Occupational Profiles

This group performs some or all of the following duties:
 

• Install, remove, maintain and repair aerial and underground telephone, coaxial and fibre optic cable television, and other telecommunication transmission and distribution lines, cables and associated hardware
• Splice and repair various types and sizes of telephone and other telecommunication cables including single line, coaxial and fibre optic
• Repair or replace faulty cables, power supplies, amplifiers and other associated transmission and distribution equipment
• Inspect, monitor, test and adjust telecommunication transmission lines and cables and distribution systems
• Analyze and record test results
• Climb and work aloft on poles, ladders or other support structures or work in confined spaces such as trenches, tunnels and crawl spaces
• Communicate with other workers to coordinate the preparation and completion of work assignments
• Assist in the erection and removal of telecommunication poles, towers and associated support structures
• May operate excavation machinery and other heavy equipment.

• Completion of secondary school is required.
• For telecommunication line and cable installers and repairers, completion of a four-year telecommunications line and cable apprenticeship program or a combination of over three years work experience in the trade and some industry- related or other specialized courses or completion of a two-year college program in electronics is usually required.
• For cable television maintenance technicians, completion of a college program in electronics or a combination of college, correspondence or industry courses related to electronics and electrical systems and on-the-job training or completion of a four-year cable television technician apprenticeship program is required.
• Trade certification for network cabling specialists is available, but voluntary, in Ontario.