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Live Chat Wednesday 1 p.m. ET: Who’s Responsible for Cell Tower Deaths?

Live Chat Wednesday 1 p.m. ET: Who’s Responsible for Cell Tower Deaths?
Live Chat Wednesday 1 p.m. ET: Who’s Responsible for Cell Tower Deaths?

By

Nathan Tobey

May 22, 2012

Over the last decade, the tower climbers who are building and servicing America’s rapidly growing cellular infrastructure have been dying on the job at an alarming rate. — roughly 10 times that of construction workers.

The giant cell phone carriers’ connection to tower-climbing deaths has remained invisible. Some have outsourced this dangerous work to smaller subcontracting companies, shielding themselves from liability when something goes wrong.

So is anyone being held responsible? What’s the best way to make the industry safer? And what about the role of the workers — what is it actually like to do this work, and why do tower climbers take such risks?

We’ve asked two of the film’s reporters, FRONTLINE’s Ryan Knutson and ProPublica’s Liz Day, as well as former tower climber Wally Reardon, project manager for the Tower Climber Protection project, to discuss these questions and take yours.

They’ll also be joined by guest questioner Ben Drawbaugh, a reporter and editor at Engadget covering consumer electronics.

You can leave a question in the chat window below, and come by at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, May 23rd to join the live discussion.

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Funding for FRONTLINE is provided through the support of PBS viewers and by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting. Additional funding is provided by the Abrams Foundation; Park Foundation; the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; and the FRONTLINE Journalism Fund with major support from Jon and Jo Ann Hagler on behalf of the Jon L. Hagler Foundation, and additional support from Koo and Patricia Yuen. FRONTLINE is a registered trademark of WGBH Educational Foundation. Web Site Copyright ©1995-2025 WGBH Educational Foundation. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.

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