Is it a pine tree? Or a cellphone tower? ‘Stealth’ structures multiply as wireless technology grows in the US

A clock tower disguised cell phone tower at Deerfield Beach City Hall. — Photos: Sun Sentinel/TNS

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida: Tiffany Crump sat outside of a pizza place near the Deerfield Beach city hall recently and thumbed her cellphone. Across the street, a large clock tower loomed over her shoulder.

Crump eats lunch at the pizza place every week and has often felt that the yellow tower looks out of place. She figured it was historical – a designated landmark to hint at what the neighbourhood looked like decades ago. She was shocked to learn its true purpose: to inconspicuously provide a signal to the cellphone cradled in her palm.