Five Main Types of Towers

Five Main Types of Towers

The Monopole Tower is a single tube tower. It typically stands between 100-200 ft. with antennas mounted on the exterior of the tower. Its primary use is telephony.

The Lattice Tower is sometimes referred to as "self-support” or SST because it is free-standing. It stands 200-400 ft. tall with a triangular base and three-four sides. It is typically used for telephony. The Eiffel Tower is a lattice tower.

The Guyed Tower is basically a straight rod supported by wires that attach to the ground as support. It's cheapest to construct, especially at heights of 300 ft and beyond. Some guyed towers reach as high as 2,000 ft. Typical uses are: telephony, radio, television, and paging.

Concealed and Stealth® Towers. Stealth ® towers are a particular brand of concealed towers. Another manufacture of concealed towers in Larson Camouflage. Concealed towers are deployed to satisfy zoning regulations, and can range in size to accommodate their surroundings. They are more expensive than other types of towers because they require additional material to create a "concealed appearance," yet at the same time, they provide less capacity to tenants than other towers do. Below is one of the more interesting concealed towers, located at a church in California.

Broadcast Towers provide mounting space for FM radio, AM radio, and Television (TV) antennas. Their antennas are massive, weighing anywhere from 1,000 pounds to 15 tons depending upon the type of service they provide and the coverage they are purposed to deploy. Most broadcast towers are guyed towers with three or more guy wires attached to grounded anchors. Broadcast towers can take up a great deal of ground space - up to 300 acres, which is why they are typically found in rural areas or on mountaintops where natural elevation provides the best means of transmitting signals.

Other Equipment

An Antenna Array is a platform where tenants mount antennas, which signal transmission and reception to mobile devices within a specific area. The number of antennas (typically between 3-18) is based on several factors, including the number of tenants (wireless carriers); the type (voice or data) and volume of transmission; the technology being used (eg: CDMA, GSM, LTE, WiMAX) and the frequency of spectrum (in MgH) utilized.

The Microwave Dish is a large round antenna, which is used for a specific type of transmission, and also commonly used for backhaul.

The Ground Space is the area that wireless carriers lease from property owners, upon which they build cell towers, cell sites and place shelters, generators and additional equipment.

The Base Transmitter Station or BTS is a shelter or enclosed area used to house and protect communications, radio and network equipment.

The Generator is powered by gas or diesel and used as emergency back-up to keep cell sites operational during power outages.

Utilities are also necessary for the operation of cell sites. Wireless carriers will run lines or cables to the site to complement their specific technology.