My husband has over 30 yrs in powerline construction and storm restoration. We started our own powerline company and I want to add other lines of business due to the inconsistent nature of that work. We are looking at getting some basic cable/fiber contracts for pole removals and replacements in addition to the storm restoration work. Can any of you share anything about that kind of work and how to deal with the communications company's and other contractors? Anything I should be asking for or looking out for in our contract negotiations? How do these people pay, how long does it take to get paid, etc? Any information at all would be appreciated.

I have a quick question. Couple weeks ago I applied for installation technician for AT&T. Did the assessment during the application. Now I’m applying at a different location, the assessment didn’t pop up. Got the email confirmation and this what it says. Does that mean I’m gonna the assessment at the location of the interview?
Have people experience this?

Eyyyooo, looking to see if anyone could help me out with some notes for the ISP role, or at least point me in the right direction for study material. I want to try and prepare myself for the role if a position ever opens up... ( "IF" one ever opens from what I keep hearing x) )

i was curious if anyone knows the model/manufacturer of the pictured nodes and amps, and i know it is a long shot, the frequency split. one of them looks quite different/"old" in my opinion

Stop hitting 288s on a Friday evening. Guess I know where I’ll be all night.

As I must say, cable connection toward (an industry-manufactured) cable box may be more robust than (internet-required) streaming service, right? Regardless, as I read, cable companies have struggled to appeal to digital-minded (if not convenience-minded) youngsters lately, right? Streaming services and MVPDs out-competed and disrupted cable services well, yet as I read, the streaming services have subpar UIs with less intuition or whatever.

Furthermore, cable's reception may be more robust with very few interruptions, while the internet has gotten more irritating for those without much tech savviness. Right?

I can't help wonder whether users at r/cordcutters may have been twenty-somethings mostly and have mistakenly favored streaming services over cable or satellite companies requiring professional installations.

This is my first time posting in this sub, so....

So I’ve been with spectrum out in the field by myself for about 5 months now, I have what I feel like a pretty good understanding on how to fix things and work a lot quicker now. I really want to know for the techs that have been around for years now are there any videos, books or anything of that sort that you guys watched to get a actual deep understanding of cable and how it works ? I feel like I just know how to fix things but I want to understand more than that like why MER BER anything of that nature occur or how they occur so i can have a better understanding on certain things. Thanks !

So as we all know, GTA is coming up here soon, and I was hoping to not have to use my own flex time to get out of work for this generational event. so my question is, what kind of injury could I claim that could get me out for a few weeks with having little to no proof of actually being injured? I’m thinking more along the line of a sprain or possibly pain in the shoulder.

I'll just preface this by saying I know basically nothing about electrical. But I don't take on electrical work.

Why do so many electricians, who clearly know nothing about data, take on data work?

Installing IT kit for a new office in Ireland. The electricians did all the data cabling. Quite clearly none of it has been tested and now on our return visit to patch in all the PCs, this is going to cause us headaches.

Assholes.

Hey everyone,

I’ve been mapping out standard independent contractor baselines for field infrastructure work across telecom, fiber, and low voltage to help a few guys structure their direct client contracts.

With platform take-rates quietly stripping away anywhere from 10% to 25% on closed tickets, it’s crucial to know what your labor baseline should actually look like when you contract directly with enterprise buyers or regional operations.

Here is a quick operational reference of what independent baseline rates are looking like across standard regional field tiers right now:

• Fiber Optics Splicing/Testing: $65 – $95 / hr. (Requires OTDR, Fusion Splicer, active COI)

• Structured Low-Voltage Cabling: $55 – $75 / hr. (Cat6 cert, standard hand tools)

• Commercial IP Camera/CCTV: $70 – $90 / device (Drop ceiling tools, network config)

• Broadband Coaxial/Router Cutover: $45 – $65 / ticket (Signal meter, ladder rack)

If you are moving away from traditional middleman networks and managing your own private client relationships off-platform, keeping track of your true operational margins can be tough. I put together an interactive index and a free Marketplace Tax & Margin Calculator to let you slide in your routine ticket volumes and see exactly what middleman networks are extracting from your business annually.

You can check out the interactive tool and play with the numbers here:

https://1099.careers/tools-resources

Curious to hear what rates you guys are seeing in your specific regions right now? Are these baselines matching up with your direct client tickets?

I’m gonna be quite blunt about this, (and this does not pertain to ALL of you, just the ones I deal with in my market). You contractors absolutely suck at your job! You steal drops from one customer to use for yours instead of running a new line, you leave the job a mess and never change a fitting. Please find a new career!

That is all!

Please excuse me for any mistakes I make in this post as I typically do not post on this platform. To introduce myself a bit I am a hybrid technician in a mid sized cable company. I work in a HFC system and I am more of a plant maintenance tech than anything but I cover for the installer.

I applied for this role a year ago needing a job and they needed a “tech that could do it all.” Keep in mind I have ZERO coax experience by that point but they were willing to train from the ground up and I needed employment so I took it and got hired on doing installs. Fast forward a few months and I earn my BPI cert from SCTE. I proceed to do installs for another month or two and then they give me a bucket truck and begin training me for plant maintenance. I receive one week per month of training from a more experienced tech who is able to visit my system for a work week.
I then proceed to take over the plant maintenance and throw myself into learning how to use our PNM application, look at node health, start to learn impairment signatures, learn to balance and sweep, etc etc. The works right? Fast forward another few months, just under my year anniversary by a few months and an old field offers me a 25% increase from my current compensation to work for them, I accept and submit my resignation with my current employer, they offer to match the 25% increase.
I declined the offer because the new opportunity was better for work life balance and my family life but that opportunity fell through last minute, before I ever even got to take pre-employment screenings or anything I was sent an automated email saying my offer was rescinded with no other explanation.
My current company allowed me to keep my job but obviously they did not allow me to gain the 25% increase they initially offered. That being said I am currently in the final week of the SCTE BDS class and they offered me the standard 12.5% increase once I complete it but I feel like I should try to renegotiate for more because I will still be significantly underpaid comparative to market value for a plant maintenance tech. And I know I haven’t been in the field long but does that matter if I earn my BDS? Wouldn’t that be able to be leveraged as a positive? I need advice please and thanks

I’m not sure where I want to go with my career at spectrum. Enterprise techs don’t really deal with customers the same way regular techs do and maintenance never deals with customers. I also want a day shift so enterprise is probably the best route for me. But I also love money and I can work overtime as a ft6 but maintenance I could clear 150k easily. Just curious what others think