There are many different types of cell towers in the telecom industry, and they range from simple structures to highly complex and technologically advanced ones. Generally speaking, there are five main types of cell towers: lattice towers, guyed towers, monopole towers, camouflage towers, and stealth towers. When you’re on the job as a tower climber, you’ll be working on one of these cell towers.
Lattice Towers
A lattice tower is a freestanding, vertical framework structure used in transmission towers carrying high voltage electric power lines. A lattice tower is typically three or four-sided and has similar shaped bases, and it may be built using steel or concrete.
Guyed Towers
Guyed masts are a common communication tower design, and they are often seen on cell towers in rural areas. They are constructed with lattice-like trusses that are held upright by wires called guys. The wires are anchored to the ground and can reach heights of up to 2,000 feet.
These towers are usually cheap to build and can be built on a relatively small plot of land. However, they are not as flexible or durable as self-supporting towers.
Monopole Towers
A monopole tower is another common type of cell tower, and they are commonly seen on suburban towers in the United States. They look like soaring streetlights with foot pegs and are very easy to climb, but they are less affordable than lattice or guyed towers.
The key advantage of a monopole tower is that it can be built in one day, which helps speed up the construction process. It is also much easier to erect these towers than lattice or guyed masts because they are self-supporting and do not require foundations.
Other advantages of a monopole tower include fast on-air times and the ability to accommodate future elevation requirements. In addition, a monopole tower has a lower total cost of ownership than other types of cell towers.
Camouflage Towers
Hundreds of cell towers across the country have been built to look like tree trunks or other trees, and this has become a popular way to conceal towers from the public eye. While this is a good idea to reduce the aesthetic impact of towers, it doesn’t always work as advertised.
Unlike other telecom towers, camo towers are disguised as trees, buildings, or spires to better blend in with its surroundings.
Stealth Towers
There are a few reasons that stealth towers fail to hide themselves from the public eye, but the biggest reason is that they don’t match their surroundings. To achieve this, they have to conform to a certain height and width, and be placed in a location that is compatible with the landscape.
A number of companies have designed a variety of camouflage towers that can be built to look like anything from pine trees to palm trees to clock towers. These towers are often very tall and have been a problem for people who live in a neighborhood with them.