What is a cell tower?

A Cell tower - also referred to as cell site, antenna, and transmitter - is a vertical structure usually made from metal and typically 50 to 200 feet high that includes a pole tower, base station, and cellular transmitters and antennas mounted either singularly or in clusters mounted on top of a pole tower.

Cell towers are part of the wireless network infrastructure which are presently needed to allow wireless devices like cell phones to connect to a wireless network service. Sometimes wireless antennas and transmitters are placed on roof tops instead of pole towers and can also be found on the side of buildings, and water tanks.

There are various ways cell tower antennas and transmitters are installed:

• Monopole Towers stand from 40 to 200 feet tall and are built from a single tubular mast. These towers require only one foundation. The antennas and transmitters are attached to the exterior at the top of the cell tower. 

• Stealth Monopole Towers are monopole towers that are disguised to appear as objects such as a tree, light pole, flag pole, tall cactus, billboard, etc. Most stealth monopole towers are not very well disguised, however there are some stealth monopole towers that are very well hidden and often detectable only with an RF meter to reveal the presence of the radiation emitted from the tower.

• Small Cells are as the name suggests - RF antennas and transmitters that are smaller in size than their macrocell counterparts. These smaller cells can be placed in a wide range of places including roof tops, sides of buildings, on top of utility poles, street lights, signs, etc. The three types of small cells are called Femtocells, Picocells, and Microcells.

• Lattice Cell Towers are free standing framework towers constructed similarly to the Eiffel Tower. They are typically between 200 and 400 feet tall. A Guyed Cell Tower, or Guyed Mast, is a 200 - 300 foot tall lattice tower that is dependent upon guy lines for its stability.