Online Degrees in Telecommunications Fiber Optics

This is s a field that did not exist 50 years ago. In the 1970s, fiber-optic communications were first developed and now have revolutionized communication systems around the world. Fiber optics transmits information using pulses of light that go through optical fiber. Fiber optic systems have generally replaced copper wire communication systems, because they are much faster and more reliable. Keep in mind, this field includes everything from your home phone to satellite systems. The field has now literally gone out of our atmosphere.

There are a lot of different career categories in this field. One of these categories is telecommunications equipment installers. They install, maintain, and repair the equipment and networks that are required for telecommunications and fiber optic networks to run correctly. There also office staff that work to support customer service and the information side of this field. Another category is a professional one that includes engineers who helps to plan, engineer, and maintain the vast telecommunications networks that keeps our world connected. This category can also include software and computer engineers who utilize their skills to help keep networks running correctly. A final category is that of service sales. This entire field would be obsolete without the ability to sell it to customers who need the services that it offers.  

When you hear the word telecommunications, you naturally assume you would be working with telephones and telephone systems. Why would you want to choose a career in that field if land lines are all but disappearing?

Years ago, most telecommunications jobs focused around the use of the telephone and telephone communications. With the introduction of the internet in the 80‘s, telecommunications jobs progressed to include all types of networks and the transmission of information. Fiber optic systems are used to transport that information across the various networks.

1 Million Telecommunications Jobs

The telecommunications industry provided about 1.0 million wage and salary jobs in 2008. Wired telecommunications carriers accounted for about 666,100 of these jobs in 2008, while 202,700 were in wireless telecommunications carriers. Telecommunications jobs are found in almost every part of the country, but most employees work in cities that have large concentrations of industrial and business establishments. Although the telecommunications industry employs workers in many different occupations, 52 percent of all workers are employed in either installation, maintenance, and repair occupations or office and administrative support occupations.

Households will demand more services such as wireless Internet, video-on-demand, and mobile- and Internet-based telephone services. Businesses will demand faster and more advanced telecommunications systems to improve communication and electronic commerce. These services are being supplied increasingly by all the competing sectors of the industry, as the lines become blurred between cable and satellite TV, and between wireless and wired phone and Internet systems.

Industry Earnings

Average weekly earnings of nonsupervisory workers in the telecommunications industry were $1,038 in 2008, significantly higher than average earnings of $608 in private industry. The table below presents median hourly of the largest occupations in telecommunications.

For more details and geographic statistics you can also view the Occupational and Employment Wages related to Telecommunications by the Bureau of Labor and Statistics. Payscale.com offers additional data on salaries, geographic saturations, and job postings for Telecommunications. You can also map your career in telecommunications at VividFuture.org.

The History of Networks and Telecommunications

The History-of-Networks Infographic(created by GetSatisfaction.com), tracks the history of networks, all the way back to the creation of the railroad in the U.S. in the early 1800s. The timeline twists its way through the invention of the telephone, radio, fax machine and email, all the way to social networking and then collaborative cloud storage in 2011.

While little information in this infographic is new, it is interesting to see the evolution of telecommunications in one simple timeline.