Tommy Waldrop
- Based in
- Alabama
- Year started
- 2018
- Industry tenure
- 16 yrs
- Specialty
- Tower construction, high-frequency RF alignment, and nationwide crew logistics.
About Tommy.
Climbed my first tower at thirteen. I grew up in Pennington, Alabama and got into the work through my brother’s WISP out in West Alabama. Went full-time into tower work not long after.
In 2018 I founded Waldrop Wireless. Over the next six years we grew it into a nationwide operation serving close to 300 WISPs. In early 2024 we rolled the company into Vertical Axis with Kelly Zacrep taking over as CEO, and I stepped into a consulting role so I could focus on clients, business development, and strategic growth while still backing the crews up on the road.
What I do here.
Self-supporting lattice towers and bracketed installs are where I spent most of my tower time. 100-foot AMTO SSTs and a 110-foot AME 55 Series on an above-ground foundation are a couple I’m proud of.
On the RF side, a lot of alignment work on high-frequency PtMP links. 60 GHz and 80 GHz.
The other specialty that developed over the years was route-planning. Stitching schedules together across Arkansas, Oklahoma, Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Alabama so one mobilization could cover multiple customers. Customers save on travel, and the crews get dense weeks of work instead of dead drives.
Off the clock.
- Hometown
- Pennington, Alabama
- Favorite NFL team
- Atlanta Falcons. Casual fan.
- Favorite college team
- Auburn. They do right by Alabama's farmers, land management, and forestry work, and that's why I pull for the Tigers.
- Favorite band or artist
- System of a Down. Drove up to MetLife Stadium with the guys in August 2025 to see them live.
- Hobbies
- Gardening. My yard is a massive, sprawling garden and I put my forestry knowledge into it. Off the road I’m usually either out there or playing Civilization 6, Helldivers 2, or whatever Star Wars game is in front of me. Big Star Wars nerd, big Avengers fan.
- Pets
- My dog Reuben.
- Tales from the road
Running family tradition in Pennington: when somebody catches a big enough snake, you pose with it next to an old truck in the yard. My Pawpaw James, my dad Daniel, my brother Glen, and me. Newer thing than it looks, but we’ve kept it going.
My niece Ryanna sums up the childhood that probably got us here: “house rule was after breakfast, you go outside. You can come back in for water or lunch, and then you go back outside until supper time.” That tracks with the gardens and the snakes both.
