Harpswell seeks cell coverage

Harpswell's Board of Selectmen is renewing efforts to get cell phone coverage for residents.

Selectwoman Katherine Chatterjee said the three-member board agrees that making cell phone service available to the town's 5,200 residents is a priority. The town's population more than doubles in the summer.

"Cell phone service is something the people of this town want and need," said Chatterjee, who was elected in June. Selectwoman Amy Haible was elected in March and Samuel Alexander in March 2005.

There are no cell phone towers in Harpswell. Although reception is available in isolated areas, service is unreliable.

"Everyone is walking around with a cell phone in hand, twisting and turning, trying to get good reception," said David Chipman, a former selectman who has been trying to convince a Falmouth-based company to build a cell phone tower on town-owned land.

At the March 2002 town meeting, voters authorized the selectmen - Chipman was a member of the board at that time - to negotiate an agreement with Tower Specialists.

Chipman said the proposal called for Tower Specialists to build a cell tower on town land near the recycling center off Mountain Road. Chipman said the town would have received a share of profits.

But Chipman left the board, and later that year residents became focused on another issue - whether to allow construction of a liquefied natural gas terminal on town land in West Harpswell. Voters rejected the terminal in 2003.

Former selectman Gordon Weil said he contacted six cell phone providers, but none of the companies expressed an interest in servicing Harpswell - even if the town were to assume responsibility for building a tower. The companies said there were not enough cell phone users in Harpswell to warrant the investment.

"The previous Board of Selectmen made a serious and sustained effort to attract interest," Weil said. "I think it would be pointless (for the current board) to pursue this."

Phil Lindley, an analyst for the Maine Public Utilities Commission, said there is little the state can do to help towns such as Harpswell get cell phone service. Cell phone companies are regulated by the FCC.

A newly established state authority is trying to expand wireless and broadband services, and to a lesser extent cell phone services, in Maine. But outside of offering incentives - such as paying for tower construction or waiving zoning requirements - towns have little leverage.

"These companies don't feel there is enough cell phone traffic in a town like Harpswell to get a return on their investment," Lindley said.

Chatterjee said selectmen won't give up. They might decide to seek bids or could form a committee to study the issue in more depth. No decisions have been made.

"All of us agree it's an important issue that we need to move forward on," she said.

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