38 Occupational Outlook Quarterly • Summer 2012

Dennis Vilorio

Dennis Vilorio 

is an economist 

in the Office of 

Occupational 

Statistics and 

Employment Projections, BLS. He 

can be reached at 

(202) 691-5711 or 

vilorio.dennis@

bls.gov.

You’re a what ?

Tower technician

I

n his career, Billy Smith has reached 

great heights. As a tower technician, Billy 

climbs up the face of telecommunications 

towers to remove, install, test, maintain, and 

repair a variety of equipment—from antennas 

to light bulbs.

Tower technicians also build shelters and 

radiofrequency shields for electronic equipment, lay coaxial and fiber optic cables, and 

remove pests and weeds. Sometimes, they 

set supports and stack construction pieces to 

build the tower itself.

Billy is usually part of a four-person crew: 

himself and one other technician; a rigger, 

who moves heavy equipment; and a supervisor, who oversees the job. At the beginning 

of each workday, the crew members meet to 

discuss the site they’re working on, the work 

they will be doing, and any potential safety 

issues. The crew then travels to the tower site 

and inspects the tower for hazards, such as 

power lines or beehives.

When the crew is responsible for installing new equipment on a telecommunications 

tower, Billy and the other technician climb the 

tower while the supervisor and rigger stay on 

the ground. The supervisor and rigger send 

up the necessary equipment and materials to 

the technicians, who then follow manufacturer specifications or engineers’ blueprints to 

install the equipment.

After installing the equipment, tower 

technicians need to test it. Simple equipment 

may need only to be turned on and off. But 

with sophisticated equipment—such as antennas and fiber optic cable—Billy and the other 

technician might need to use handheld testing 

devices to verify the equipment is properly 

installed. For example, they might test fiber 

optic cables for signal loss. The technicians 

report to engineers any problems, along with 

recommended solutions, such as adjusting the 

tilt or location of an antenna.

Technicians must be mentally prepared 

and in good physical shape to climb cell 

phone towers up to 200 feet tall and broadcasting towers up to 2,000 feet tall. The climb 

is even more difficult because the heavy 

equipment they carry—such as replacement parts and tools—can weigh more than 

90 pounds. “It can feel like you’re carrying 

another person,” Billy says.

Climbing towers is dangerous work. To 

stay safe, tower technicians maintain radio 

contact with the ground crew at all times. 

But slips, falls, and other accidents—such as 

overheating from improperly shielded radiofrequency equipment—can happen. To help 

minimize risk, Billy and other technicians use 

climbing and safety equipment that latches 

onto anchors built into the tower frame. This 

equipment, known as the Personal Fall Arrest 

System, includes a safety belt, harness, hooks, 

and lanyards.

Technicians use the equipment, along with 

their hands and feet, to stay safe while they 

are on the tower. For example, Billy might 

hook a safety cable to the tower and climb 

with his hands and feet. But when he needs 

to hang in place and work with his hands, 

he wraps a lanyard through an anchor on the 

tower and then secures it through two loops on 

his safety belt.
Summer 2012 • Occupational Outlook Quarterly 39

Weather is another threat to technicians’ 

safety, says Billy. Heavy winds can blow a 

technician off the tower, for example, and ice 

causes slippery conditions. During the summer, heat and sunlight can lead to overheating 

or heatstroke. Technicians also have to watch 

out for lightning, which can strike the tower 

from a storm many miles away.

Over the years, Billy has learned to judge 

the weather and to take action to protect 

himself and his crew. If conditions are poor, 

Billy’s crew can delay work on the tower until 

conditions improve. But if he and another 

technician are already on the tower and the 

weather suddenly changes, they can rappel 

down the tower quickly and safely.

Before they ascend or descend towers, technicians receive safety training paid 

for by their employer. The training usually 

includes instruction in first aid, cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR), proper use of 

safety equipment, emergency procedures, and 

rescue operations. “We don’t have to wait for 

an emergency crew,” says Billy. “We are all 

trained to do our own rescues.”

Employers may also pay for technical 

training, from troubleshooting equipment 

to channeling fiber optic cables. On-the-job 

training typically lasts about 6 weeks. There is 

no school for tower climbing, and educational 

requirements are minimal. “You learn most 

things on the field through trial and error,” 

Billy says.

But technicians usually bring some 

skills to the job. An aptitude for computers, 

mechanics, and climbing are particularly 

helpful, says Billy, as are dependability and 

attention to detail. Tower technicians also 

must pass random drug tests and be willing 

to travel on assignments, often for months at 

a time.

Many tower technicians enter the occupation through personal connections. Billy, 

for example, was recruited by a cousin who 

worked in the tower business. “I was climbing oil rigs, but jobs were becoming scarce,” 

he says. “It was easy to switch to climbing 

telecommunications towers.”

Other tower technicians find work through 

job advertisements. Online portals that specialize in the tower business are particularly 

useful. In addition to job ads, these portals 

often include news, training courses, and other 

career resources related to tower work.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

does not collect employment and wage data 

specific to tower technicians. However, BLS 

does collect data on a related occupation, telecommunication line installers and repairers, 

whose workers specialize more on the lines 

themselves than on climbing the towers to do 

technical tasks. There were almost 149,000 

telecommunication line installers and repairers in May 2011, according to BLS, and they 

earned a median annual wage of $51,720, or 

an hourly wage of $24.87.

Anecdotal information suggests that the 

typical wage for experienced tower technicians is about $20 per hour. Entry-level technicians earn about $15 per hour. These wages 

are usually supplemented with hotel accommodations and money for daily expenses 

when they are on travel for work.

Many tower technicians do not work in 

the occupation long. Some find the work too 

dangerous, can’t cope with the stress of the 

climbs, or don’t like the lengthy travel schedule. Others work in the field temporarily while 

looking for another job.

Consequently, experienced tower technicians often earn excellent job security and are 

competitively recruited by different companies. Many also find that mastering telecommunications line technologies is exciting 

and rewarding. “Every tower is a completely 

different challenge,” Billy says, “and a new 

learning experience.”

Billy knows that the risks of being a tower 

technician might dissuade some people from 

making a career of it. But for him, the perks 

of his work outweigh the danger associated 

with it. He enjoys the travel and the chance to 

meet many different people at each site and on 

the road. And most of all, he says, he enjoys 

using his skills to do important work: “I feel 

proud to build something that will last and 

help others.”