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Life and death on a tower

Telecom tower climbers across the US are risking their lives to make always-on connectivity a reality

July 28, 2026

By

Paul Lipscombe

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In this industry, you are your brother's keeper. You depend on each other up on a tower,” says Chase Goins, a cell tower climber turned broadcast tower technician.<br>Goins’ view was echoed by several of the telecom tower climbers that DCD spoke with for this feature. Brotherhood is a recurring theme, as if those in this profession feel a part of a club that many wouldn’t dream of joining.<br>Having spent most of his career climbing cell towers, Goins is well aware of the dangers of the job.<br>Scaling cell towers, which can reach several hundred feet, is a daunting prospect. Broadcast towers are often taller, with the tallest, a KRDK-TV mast, spanning 2,060 feet (627.9 meters), located in Galesburg, North Dakota.<br>It’s these sorts of heights that make the job of climbing a tower one of the most dangerous in the world.<br>Safety concerns<br>The stats back this up. A study carried out by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union revealed 65.3 percent of respondents had been on a site where someone was injured.<br>The same study found that a quarter of people have come across on-site injuries on at least five occasions, while 17 percent have worked with someone who has been fatally injured on a site.

– Dan Hovey

Four percent of respondents, including Goins, have witnessed a death while on a job.<br>“I had a co-worker pass away on the tower with me last year,” he says. “It was horrific.” Goins was there when Toby Coles, 62, fell from about 200ft (61m) from a cell tower in Little Rock, Arkansas, on September 12, 2025.<br>“He was a great man. It’s just another situation where I have no idea how or why it ended up happening. A moment of carelessness led to someone losing their life,” says Goins.<br>The Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found the incident to be an accident, closing its investigation into the case earlier this year.<br>Last year, a total of six tower-related fatalities were recorded, up from two deaths in each of the previous two years. Wireless construction publication Wireless Estimator has been tracking these fatalities since 2003, noting 2006 as the record high for fatalities with 19. In total, since tracking these fatalities, 176 deaths have been recorded.<br>Daniel Hovey, a distributed antenna systems lead technician at Alpha 8 Communications and previously a tower foreman of eight years, has also witnessed a co-worker and friend fall to their death while on site. Devon Collins, 29, fell from 107ft (33m) after he had connected his lanyard to the open end of a nylon sling that was serving as an anchorage point and stepped out of the personal basket, and then fell backwards.<br>Despite falling nearly 110ft (34m) from the tower, it was another seven hours before Collins succumbed to his injuries.<br>“You work so long up there you forget you’re 100ft (30m) off the ground,” says Hovey. “All you’re focused on is the task at hand. The other guy on the tower with us quit. He realized that that could be him, he said, ‘I’m too comfortable’ - it’s that complacency that kills.”<br>These climbers are propping up the lucrative industry of telecoms, supporting the build-out of mobile networks that keep all of us connected.<br>According to the Wireless Infrastructure Association, the US cellular industry invested more than $10.2 billion in expanding network capacity and coverage last year, and this is excluding expenditures on spectrum, maintenance, and ongoing operations.<br>In total, operating expenses for US cellular networks reached nearly $54.7 billion in 2025, while total wireless infrastructure investments – including construction, maintenance, and operations – amounted to nearly $65 billion.<br>“Tower climbing is a critically important and needed role,” says Patrick Halley, president and CEO, Wireless Infrastructure Association. “Reliable connectivity for Americans doesn’t happen by magic – it’s built by skilled tower technicians. We’re grateful to the tower technicians who are on the frontlines every day to keep us all connected.”<br>Getting into this career<br>Given the dangers of the job, it’s fair to say that the average person wouldn’t fancy scaling several hundred feet up a tower for several hours at a time. So, who does this sort of job?

DCD Magazine #61 - Life and death on a tower

The cell tower climbers risking it all to help us stay connected

08 Jun 2026

“I actually first learned about tower climbing from a segment I saw on TV. I remember early on thinking, ‘wow, these guys must be some of the most highly skilled professionals out there,’” Tommy Schuch, founder and president, Climber Protection Group, explains to DCD.<br>A passion for climbing and adventure is what got...