"...would stop 99.8% of illegals..."
On a short pole, I would just use my hands to climb and belt off at the top, but this pole was so large at the butt, I couldn't get my hands halfway around the pole so I used my belt to climb up, Then when you get to the higher spots, I had to tighten my belt a couple of feet. There was a high pucker factor most of the way up.
I remember climbing my first few poles and I can tell you when a newbie gets just a few feet up, they start to re evaluate if they really want to be a phone man. A normal cable is about 25-30 ft up or so on whatever size pole it's on. The electric company usually gets the top of the poles.
Many use bucket trucks today, but even being 40 ft up in a bucket truck with some wind is a fun afternoon.