One of the unfortunate side effects of our modern connected lifestyle is that we need the infrastructure to support that lifestyle. Ugly cell phone towers might not be quite as much of an eyesore in the city, but they stick out like a sore thumb in the country. So, Bell has decided to build a few that look like trees instead.

This pilot project is set to take place in cottage country north of Toronto. The plan calls for about 20 new cell phone towers, but they’ll all be cleverly disguised as trees of between 25 and 29 meters. This makes them taller than the surrounding trees, hence giving better coverage, but they won’t be as much of an eyesore as a typical cellphone tower.

The “tree” towers are made of steel with fiberglass branches and, because they’re being built on private land and are shorter than 30 meters, they don’t need municipal approval. Disguised cellphone towers are nothing new, though, as the United States sees plenty posing as palm trees, street lights, barn silos, and church steeples, but the tree design is new to Canada.

Personally, I like the idea. Technology should be seamless with its surroundings, while still providing us with all of its wonderful benefits. Like cell phone coverage.

[Source]