Are you curious about a career as a tower technician? Check out today’s blog for additional insight on what tower technicians do.
If you're into achieving an unparalleled combination of tasks in your typical work day, then a job as a tower technician might be the job for you. Using the incredible skills needed to safely ascend heights up 500 feet is just one highlight of a tower technician's day.
To succeed as a tower technician, you must be able to perform your job in a multi-hazardous setting. It requires a high level of technical, communication, planning, teamwork, and safety skill.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) evidences a high job satisfaction rate for individuals who join the exclusive ranks of tower technicians.
Many people thrive on the challenge of managing risky conditions while applying technical solutions, maintenance, and upgrades to systems that benefit entire populations.
Wondering if you're up to the high demands of a tower technician career? Here is a thorough breakdown of this dynamic role, including information on how to enter the industry.
Imagine a job role involving high technical complexity, extensive travel, effective teamwork, and demanding schedules.
Add in performing this job between 200 to 500 feet high while managing heavy equipment and safety aids. And you're also exposed to electrical equipment and all types of weather conditions while on the job. The installation, upkeep, and repair of electronic equipment on a cell tower test the expertise of tower technicians every day.
These technicians enhance the functionality of wireless, radio, and television services. Telecom towers are the main focus of tower technicians' jobs.
Therefore, you can consider tower technicians as the brains of our wireless system network. When your phone reception is poor, there may already be a technician working on repairs to strengthen connectivity.
These technicians enhance the functionality of wireless, radio, and television services.
Being a tower technician definitely means you are a uniquely skilled operator. Because customers rely on reliable cell tower networks around the clock, technicians must also be prepared to work efficiently at all hours.
Before considering the various responsibilities of a tower technician, it is helpful to understand the overall career trajectory and specialty areas for tower technicians.
At an entry-level position, new recruits may choose between roles ranging from a mapping technician, cell tower or communications tower technician, to a tower climber.
A tower technician's career progression involves several stages related to your level of experience and skill sets:
Within this hierarchy, tower technicians perform the following duties:
Tower technicians are relied on to organize an effective and safe plan of action to install various carrier-specific antennas, other transmitter systems, and set azimuths.
They must also consider cabling installation needs to connect the equipment on the tower. These include power, Ethernet, and fiber optic cables. The detail-oriented installation of these cables is crucial to ensure a working system.
Additionally, tower technicians must attend to rigging and fall-arrest systems. All rigging must be completed to industry standards to ensure the safety of workers on the tower even in inclement weather.
Therefore, installation responsibilities may include:
Tower technicians must maintain all aspects of communication towers. This extends from preventative maintenance such as regularly changing light bulbs, to identifying and repairing bent steel.
A keen eye for maintenance issues and the physical condition of towers is essential and should be part of any assigned tasks.
Maintenance of communication towers includes:
Climbers of cellular phone towers need to be in top physical shape. When there is an outage, technicians may have to spend the entire workday at tower heights.
So they have to be prepared to attend to repairs in any location, at any time to ensure sufficient network service.
When their work is accomplished, tower climbing technicians must still have the stamina and energy to return safely to the ground carrying heavy equipment and safety protective gear.
The weight of the tools and replacement equipment makes the ascent significantly more difficult. Cell tower climbers are often men but many strong, physically active women are also drawn to the profession.
Cell tower technicians must work under significant pressure to meet project repair deadlines and respond to any kind of network tower breakdown.
Service calls to repair antennas, assess wireless infrastructure, or perform routine maintenance can occur at any moment.
Project activities can involve building or updating antennas, constructing network cabling, and using electronic test equipment to examine the operation of the tower. So it's crucial to be able to read blueprints and schematics.
A tower technician may also have to complete reports related to various aspects of tower systems. The amount of reporting depends on their role and the project. Reports can include anything from safety checklists to work orders and damage reports.
One common type of report is a safety checklist. This document is used to ensure that all safety procedures are followed during tower installation or maintenance. It can help identify any potential hazards and prevent accidents.
Another type of report is a work order. This document outlines the specific tasks that need to be completed, as well as the time it will take to complete them. It can help ensure that projects are completed efficiently.
A damage report records any damage to a tower or its components. This information can help determine who is responsible for the damage and how it should be repaired.
As a tower technician, your worksite setting varies remarkably in location, height, and tasks.
Tower technicians work on a variety of towers, from small guy-wired towers to large self-supporting lattice towers.
Guy-wired towers are the most common type of tower and are typically used for cell phone service, radio stations, or TV broadcasts.
They consist of a number of poles which are connected by cables at the top and bottom. The cables help support the tower and keep it upright.
Self-supporting lattice towers are used for a variety of applications, including cell phone services, radio stations, TV broadcasts, and wind turbines.
These towers are made up of a series of metal tubes that intersect at right angles to form a square or rectangular frame. The frame is then covered in metal panels or mesh to protect it from the elements.
In order to enable the use of wireless communication devices like telephones and radios in the surrounding region, electric communications equipment and antennae are put atop cell phone towers, sometimes referred to as cell sites.
When a wireless carrier or tower company expands the capacity or network coverage in a region, they frequently build cell towers to improve signal reception.
Throughout the day, cell tower technicians and repair personnel perform a wide range of duties to maintain mobile phone towers and keep them in good operating order.
To make sure that consumers always have full bars and that cell phones always get signals without delay or problem, cell tower technicians must continuously repair and replace worn-out supplies and machinery.
They often test tower functionality and perform routine servicing and maintenance.
As they carry signals for a variety of different wireless devices in addition to mobile phones and cell sites, radio towers are the foundation of wireless communication.
These towers have a big impact on our lives since they allow us to keep in touch with our friends, family, and coworkers while we're on the go.
Towers are often situated on elevated terrains, such as peaks or hilltops, to allow the signal to spread out over a larger area.
We require an expanding number of towers to meet demand as more people than ever use wireless devices like smartphones and tablets and demand more services and quicker speed.
TV towers come in a variety of shapes and sizes and effectively transmit television signals.
Some towers are designed to be used for a single purpose, such as transmitting TV signals, while others can be used for a variety of purposes, including transmitting TV signals, radio signals, and cell phone services.
TV towers rise to incredible heights to maximize signal strength.
Up until 2019, KVLY-TV Tower in Blanchard, North Dakota, was both the tallest broadcasting tower in the world and the tallest structure in the Western Hemisphere. Its 2063-foot height is now surpassed by the Burj Khalifa, Tokyo Sky Tree, and Shanghai Tower.
All structures that transmit communication signals, including those used for radio and television broadcasting, emergency medical services (EMS), microwave, GPS, and cell phone antennas and towers, are considered telecommunication towers.
Construction, maintenance, and servicing of communications towers were limited to a very select and highly skilled industry prior to the 1980s.
The need for wireless and broadcast communications has grown significantly during the past 30 years. This has fueled a sharp rise in communication tower construction.
This means huge demand for technicians to climb communication towers with telecommunications equipment to carry out maintenance or repair work.
In essence, these imposing towers are what really define what it takes to be a cell tower technician.
As tower equipment installers perform a large-scale rollout of 5G installation and upgrade cell towers, they must monitor external conditions while following precise instructions regarding technical components, equipment, and mechanics.
Are your abilities suited to a tower technician career? If these tasks sound like they are within your capabilities, then this might be the vocation for you:
Are you ready to get underway in this exciting and dynamic role? Apply now for the Pinnacle Career Institute's tower technician course to get set in the telecommunications industry.