How to become a telecommunications engineer
Official title: Telecommunications engineers
Also called: Broadcast engineer, Telecommunications engineer, Telecommunications engineering technologist
Telecommunications engineers conduct research and advise on, design and direct the construction, functioning, maintenance and repair of telecommunication systems and equipment. They study and advise on technological aspects of telecommunication engineering materials, products or processes.
Main tasks
- Advising on and designing telecommunications devices or components, systems, equipment and distribution centres
- Specifying production or installation methods, materials, quality and safety standards and directing production or installation work of telecommunications products and systems
- Organizing and directing maintenance and repair of existing telecommunication systems, motors and equipment
- Researching and advising on telecommunications equipment
- Planning and designing communications networks based on wired, fibre optical and wireless communication media
- Designing and developing signal processing algorithms and implementing these through appropriate choice of hardware and software
- Designing telecommunications networks and radio and television distribution systems, including both cable and over the air
Ways in
- University: Engineering degrees, Offered by 14 universities in Hong Kong
- Licence or registration: Registering body: Engineers Registration Board. Law: Engineers Registration Ordinance (工程師註冊條例), Cap. 409. Summary by Peernovo; check the body's current rules.
Pay · Outlook · AI and this job
- Median pay: HK$48,000 a month
- About 1,542,900 people in 2025, and about 1,639,100 projected by 2028. (+6.2%)
- Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
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Questions people ask
How do I become a telecommunications engineer?
Ways in include: Engineering degrees.
Do you need a degree to become a telecommunications engineer?
Usually. 88% of people in this job hold a bachelor's degree or higher.
Will AI change the work of a telecommunications engineer?
Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.
Sources
- Census and Statistics Department (2021 Population Census): 2021 Population Census, Interactive Data Dissemination Service: working population by occupation (38 groups) and sex, age, education, income; median income and field of education (9 groups) (2021 Population Census), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Census and Statistics Department (General Household Survey): Median monthly employment earnings by occupation (9 groups), excluding foreign domestic helpers (Table 210-06317A); employed persons by occupation, age and sex (210-06307A) and by industry (210-06308A) (2025 annual (series to 2026-07)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- Labour and Welfare Bureau; tables published by C&SD: Mid-term Update of Manpower Projection to 2028: supplementary statistical tables (5 occupation groups, 17 selected industries) (2025 to 2028 (published 2026-09)), retrieved 4 October 2026
- International Labour Organization, Generative AI and Jobs: A Refined Global Index of Occupational Exposure (ILO Working Paper 140, Gmyrek et al.) (ILO Working Paper 140, May 2025, Annex Table A1), CC BY 4.0, retrieved 4 October 2026
Updated 4 October 2026