Telecommunications Equipment Installers and Repairers, Except Line Installers

Telecom-installers still do most work by hand. For example, no robots today crawl inside manholes or pull wires on poles – those tasks stay “hands-on.” What AI and automation do help with is inspection and analysis. In practice companies are flying drones (small flying cameras) to check towers and cables.

These drones use AI-based image analysis to find corrosion or damage much faster. For instance, in Denmark a telecom team used drones with LiDAR and AI and cut tower inspections from days to about one hour per site ^{[1] [1]}. Nokia also announced 300 drones for Swisscom to allow remote inspection of infrastructure (like poles and cables) instead of climbing on them ^{[2] [2]}.

In contrast, tasks like reading manuals or matching wire colors still depend on people. (Researchers have shown a camera can recognize wire colors in lab settings ^[3], but on a customer’s site it’s harder.) Overall, AI today augments technicians – helping them spot problems – rather than fully automating the physical tasks they do ^{[1] [2]}.

Adopting AI in this field will be gradual. Some factors help adoption: big cost savings and safety. Studies (like from PwC) show drones and AI could save telecom firms billions of dollars and lots of time by reaching remote equipment more safely ^{[1] [1]}.

Nokia’s “drones-as-a-service” model even lets companies rent drone inspections without buying them ^[2], easing cost barriers. But other factors slow the spread. Much of the work is unpredictable and physical – running cables indoors or troubleshooting on site – and AI systems struggle with messy real‐world environments.

Also, regulators must approve drone flights and data use (as noted in Switzerland ^[2]), which can slow things. Finally, field techs earn a modest wage (around $60K median in the US ^[4]), so for many tasks it’s still cheaper to use people than expensive machines.