Argentina
Wooden crossarms and tapered concrete
- Wooden poles with long crossarms, often in open, dry country.
- Slim, tapered concrete poles in towns.
- Wide streets lined with trees.
Utility poles by country
Power and phone poles differ from country to country. These cards show the tells for 21 countries, each with a real photo zoomed onto the clue.
Test yourself: play Pole Spotter →
Australia
Stobie poles and painted poles
- Stobie poles: two steel I-beams with concrete poured between them (South Australia).
- Many Stobie poles are painted with artwork.
- Elsewhere, tall wooden poles with crossarms.
Brazil
Concrete poles wrapped in cable
- Concrete poles wrapped in a mess of loose telecom cables.
- Some concrete poles have a cross-shaped section and a transformer on top.
- Low, painted houses and red earth.
Canada
Like the US, with a few tells
- Wooden poles and drum transformers, very close to the US.
- In Quebec, Hydro-Québec plaques on the pole.
- Long streetlight arms on the poles, and wide, open roads.
France
Concrete H-poles and danger plaques
- Grey concrete poles with an H-shaped or hollowed cross-section.
- Old Danger de mort plaques and yellow ID plates.
- Thin wooden poles on country lanes.
Germany
Wood in the country, lattice concrete in the east
- Simple wooden poles along rural roads.
- In the east, lattice concrete masts that also carry streetlights.
- Wires running to stands on the roof of houses.
Hungary
Holes up the pole
- Concrete poles with a column of holes running up the middle.
- Common on village streets with orange-tiled houses.
- Seen now and then in neighbouring countries, but far more often in Hungary.
Indonesia
Grey concrete PLN poles
- Grey concrete poles from PLN, the state power company.
- Transformers on platforms between two poles.
- Rice fields, volcanoes and red-tiled roofs nearby.
Ireland
Wooden poles and bilingual signs
- Slim wooden poles, close to the UK's.
- Yellow ESB Networks danger signs on the pole.
- Signs in Irish and English nearby.
Japan
Concrete, stripes and wire tangles
- Grey concrete poles, often with a yellow-and-black striped guard near the ground.
- A dense web of wires over narrow streets, with small grey transformers.
- Plates and adverts strapped to the pole, in Japanese script.
Mexico
Tapered concrete and colourful streets
- Grey tapered concrete poles with metal crossarms.
- Wires tangled at corners in town centres.
- Brightly painted walls and flat roofs behind.
Netherlands
Hardly any poles at all
- Almost no utility poles: power lines run underground.
- Red asphalt cycle paths next to the road.
- Flat land, canals and brick houses.
New Zealand
Concrete poles with many crossarms
- Poles with several crossarms stacked up.
- Boxy transformers mounted on the pole.
- Green hills and weatherboard houses behind.
Philippines
Tall concrete and steel along wide roads
- Tall concrete or steel poles carrying many lines.
- Poles lining wide highways with tricycles and jeepneys.
- Thailand and Indonesia look similar: Filipino signs are in English.
Poland
Concrete A-frames and stork nests
- Grey concrete A-frames: two poles leaning together.
- Stork nests on top of poles in the countryside.
- Some concrete poles have holes up the side.
Romania
Coiled cables and stork nests
- Concrete poles hung with coils and loops of cable.
- Stork nests on poles in villages.
- Blue or green street-name signs fixed to the pole.
South Korea
Concrete and thick cable bundles
- Round concrete poles, much like Japan's.
- Thick bundles and loops of black cable wrapped around the pole.
- The giveaway is usually nearby: signs in Hangul, the Korean alphabet.
Spain
Wires on white walls
- Cables pinned along white-washed walls instead of on poles.
- Concrete poles with a Y-shaped top in the country.
- Steel lattice poles and wooden A-frames on dry land.
Thailand
Tall concrete and huge cable bundles
- Thick bundles of black cables, often with spare coils hanging off the pole.
- Tall concrete poles with several crossarms.
- The Philippines and Indonesia can look similar: check signs and scenery.
United Kingdom
Thin wooden poles, wires to every house
- Plain, slim wooden telephone poles.
- Thin wires fanning out from the top to each house.
- In the country, transformers sit on two-pole H frames. Ireland looks similar.
United States
Tall wood and drum transformers
- Tall wooden poles with wooden crossarms at the top.
- Round grey drum transformers hanging off the side.
- Green street-name signs often fixed to the pole. Canada looks very similar.