How do you identify wires on a utility pole? How do you know which is an electric, telephone, or cable wire?The wires on the top are the electrical wiresEvery so many poles, you will see them connected to the cylindrical transformers for houses and other buildingsThe telephone wires are usually next, and are usually the biggest, with black insulationThe cablevision cables are usually on the bottom and may have black or grey insulationYou can identify them by the fact that on almost every pole, they go into a small box, usually with short lengths of aluminum tubing, and a cable for each house comes out of that box.Other related question