VINALHAVEN — More than a decade after footings were poured, a cell tower has been built on the island and antennae soon will be installed. But not everyone will enjoy better phone reception.

The 190-foot tower was built last spring by Tower Specialists, based in Falmouth, said owner-operator Paul Strout. The company also owns the tower, he said, and is in the final phases of negotiations with a cellular service provider.

Tom Groening is editor of The Working Waterfront, published by the Island Institute.

The provider, Northeast Wireless Networks of Falmouth, serves only AT&T customers, said the company's David Duplissis. AT&T's presence in Maine currently is limited to parts of York, Cumberland and Sagadahoc counties. But most seasonal visitors to Vinalhaven are AT&T customers, he said.

In an unrelated development, Fair Point Communications is upgrading broadband Internet access to existing island customers and will extend access to 184 new homes and businesses.

TOWER CONNECTION

For the new cell phone service, Northeast Wireless is adding equipment to existing infrastructure in Rockland and Belfast, Duplissis said, to extend coverage to the island.

"We're looking to provide 3G services. We're making the capital investment," he said. "We're excited to be there."

Dupplissis predicted other providers, such as Verizon and U.S. Cellular, may follow AT&T to the island.

"Once coverage is in the neighborhood, then other providers become interested," he said.

The AT&T service is expected to begin working in late June or early July.

But year-round residents will have to make due with reception that is spotty at best, said Town Manager Marjorie Stratton.

"We still don't have good coverage," she said, despite improvements made on the mainland over the last 15 years. The north end of the island is the exception.

"You can get a signal out there," she said. Elsewhere, "It's really sporadic. You can't depend on it."

The effort to build a tower on the island sparked opposition a decade ago, Strout said. Islander Jeff Peterson, who owns land abutting the private, gravel road that leads to the tower site, challenged the company's access. That made providers nervous about backing the project, Strout said.

"It's been a legal battle," he said.

Efforts to contact Peterson were unsuccessful.

In the years since the effort to build the tower first began, attitudes toward cell phones have changed, Strout said.

Early on, people objected to seeing cell towers from their homes or in scenic, undeveloped areas. Today, he said, with the proliferation of smart phones, "They get annoyed when they can't use it," and so are less likely to fight a tower project.

Stratton said in the years after the tower was first proposed, the town had developed rules governing such activities.

"We have a wireless communications ordinance," she said, which held sway over Strout's application to build the tower.

Despite the low-key response to the new tower, there are mixed feelings on the island about mobile phones.

Stratton sums up one sentiment, asserted by some summer visitors, this way: "I'm happy there's no cell tower because I come here for peace and quiet, and I don't want the kids constantly checking their phones."

Others, though, must continue to do work while visiting, and year-rounders also rely on service for their work. "It's really problematic," she said.

BROADBAND

Connectivity with Internet service is also an issue on the island, Stratton said. Landlords who own or manage summer rentals often are asked about access.

"People that want to rent ask that question, 'Am I going to be able to log onto the Internet?' And if the answer is 'no,' forget it," she said.

That problem prompted the town to partner with FairPoint Communications to land a grant from the ConnectMe Authority, a state agency, to cover $118,790 of the $169,700 cost of the project. The work extends DSL to 184 buildings that previously did not have access to the high-speed service, and upgraded existing customers, FairPoint's Sabina Haskell said.

Stratton cheered the work.

"That's huge," she said of the development. The work is being completed this month.

In addition, cable provider Time Warner has installed a new cable between North Haven and Vinalhaven, she said, and will be able to serve customers on the north end of the island.