The grounding is usually required to meet a standard and is tested during the towers installation. There are also coaxial surge arrestors and isolators that get used along the span.
Some of the site to site communications equipment has no ground component other than a PoE switch. The ethernet interface, radio, and antenna are all in a single packaged unit installed at height on the tower.
Communications equipment is not designed to withstand lightning strikes. Lightning protection is meant to prevent the tower from melting or the building from burning down, not to protect a receiver!
I'm not at all sure why you'd think that. Here's an actual product that sits inline with the coaxial cable and is absolutely intended to protect the receiver.
The grounding is usually required to meet a standard and is tested during the towers installation. There are also coaxial surge arrestors and isolators that get used along the span.
Some of the site to site communications equipment has no ground component other than a PoE switch. The ethernet interface, radio, and antenna are all in a single packaged unit installed at height on the tower.