Are there actually installations that can withstand three inches of > radial ice? Once the ice passes 0.3 inches here we're heading for a > major power and communications failure with ordinary residential > streets looking like plates of spaghetti.
I plead guilty of hyperbole. Even in northern states ("heavy loading" district), the specified maximum ice loading is 0.5 inches of ice with a wind pressure of 4 psf.
My point, however, stands: in a crosswind, communications cables can put large lateral forces on utility poles. With or without radial ice, these forces can equal, or even exceed, the forces caused by the action of the wind on electric power conductors.
Of course, a lot depends on the relative size and quantity of electrical conductors vis-à-vis the communications cables and the relative wind speeds at different elevations above ground.
In any case, the lateral forces caused by communications cables produce lower bending moment at the base of the pole simply because they're closer to the base of the pole.
I should add that these observations are based on field experience, not empirical research. There's virtually no published research on the subject.
Neal McLain