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Question:

How can you tell which lines on telephone poles are power lines, cable lines, and phone lines?

nan

Answer:

I am not going to tell you that, because the only reasons I could think of why someone would ask this is for illegal activities, such as stealing the copper out of telephone wires. You are on your own on that.
I believe cable lines are under-ground. Can't tell difference in the rest myself.
electric on top cable in the middle telephone on bottom,,,, i notice as they are installing FiOS that they appear to be installing it below the cable, but above the copper telephone wiring,...
The higher they are up, the Higher the voltage. Of course, high voltage power will usually have individual bare aluminum conductors on porcelain or plastic insulators. Lower voltage (120/240 in North Amercia) is either three or four conductors on a set individual insulators, or two or three insulated wires wrapped around an aluminum wire (steel cored actually). The 4th wire, if there, is for street lights. Telephone is a think cable, with junction boxes evert few homes, which the customer lines come off of. Cable lines are a round coax, which connect to its pole equipment with threaded connections, usually with hex fittings, and splitter/taps which customer lines conenct to. Cable lines also have power injector boxes every often. They supply the power for amplifiers. If the wires are overhead to a home, you can usually tell by what they connect to. Electricity is obvious, the individual conductors from the lateral connect to the individual conductors on the drop, which lead to the meter. Telephone and cable both usually go to similar boxes on the house, but cable continues with one or more of similar coax, while telephone goes in with a JKT, Cat 3, or 5 cable, often grey.

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