A transplant from El Salvador, Saul Joya came to the U.S. twenty years ago with some experience stringing cable for the BBC and then Cablevision. He only got a taste of the tower life, climbing an occasional pole. When he got to “the States,” he was relegated to installing phone systems and pay phones. Some friends encouraged him to join them on the job working tower sites and his climb into a new career had begun.
Fast forward to present day, Joya is an integral member of Proscape Services buildout crew doing light installations at the top of the towers and wiring the cabinets at the base. The company subcontracts its services to various tower companies including Subcarrier Communications.
Subcarrier’s Site Acq Manager Alexander Paleski said, “Saul’s the reason why our tower in Wanaque (NJ) got built. Since then, it has been completely booked up by high speed traders in less than six months, probably one of our most profitable towers ever.”
Joya said fifteen years ago, tower training was a little more…unstructured. He did some online training and then went into the field climbing 20 feet high, learning a little about rescue techniques and getting used to the equipment. Once he finally went up to 100 feet, he was hooked. “I really liked it,” he said. “The higher you get, the better the view.”
Asked what he didn’t like about the job, Joya was stumped for an answer. “There’s nothing I don’t like about it. I think I’m making a difference and helping people. And the pay’s not bad.”
This article is a part of Inside Towers’ Climber Chronicles series, sponsored by Viavi Solutions.
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