It is single self-supporting pole, and is generally placed over roofs of high raised buildings, when number of antennae required is less or height of tower required is less than 9m.

Based on cross section of tower

Towers can be classified, based on their cross section, into square, rectangular, triangular, delta, hexagonal and polygonal towers. Open steel lattice towers make the most efficient use of material and enables the construction of extremely light-weight and stiff structures by offering less exposed area to wind loads. Most of the power transmission, telecommunication and broadcasting towers are lattice towers. Triangular Lattice Towers have less weight but offer less stiffness in torsion. With the increase in number of faces, it is observed that weight of tower increases. The increase is 10% and 20% for square and hexagonal cross sections respectively. If the supporting action of adjacent beams is considered, the expenditure incurred for hexagonal towers is somewhat less.

Based on the type of material sections

Based on the sections used for fabrication, towers are classified into angular and hybrid towers (with tubular and angle bracings).

Lattice towers are usually made of bolted angles. Tubular legs and bracings can be economic, especially when the stresses are low enough to allow relatively simple connections. Towers with tubular members may be less than half the weight of angle towers because of the reduced wind load on circular sections. However the extra cost of the tube and the more complicated connection details can exceed the saving of steel weight and foundations.

Based on the placement of tower

Based on this placement, Communication towers are classified as follows:

Green Field Tower Roof Top Tower
Erection Erected on natural ground with suitable foundation. Erected on existing building with raised columns and tie beams. Height 30 - 200 m 9 - 30 m. Usual Location Rural Areas Urban Areas Economy Less More

Based on the number of segments

The towers are classified based on the number of segments as Three slope tower; Two slope tower; Single slope tower; Straight tower.