SHEESE, this thread sure got hot opinions since I first posted.
The company's that own the poles are not that hostile. Officially you will be told either no to an attachment, or offered a huge red tape highway.
In the real world most of the techs will pass by stuff like this. How many times have you seen garage sale signs etc. on poles, totally not allowed. I know of a man who put a FTA dish out near the road due to LOS. Next to the dish was a overhead cable drop to his house from the previous owners had subbed. He connected this cable to his dish and receiver, worked fine. One day he saw a cable tech out at the road, took a picture of the connection. Uh Ohh, but never heard nothing, ain't like he is stealing their services, just using a wire paid for by the previous owners install charges.