Mililani Mauka antenna issue gets new twist
By James Gonser
Advertiser Central Bureau
MILILANI MAUKA — Now that AT&T Wireless is moving ahead with plans to move its cellular telephone antenna farther from homes in Mililani Mauka, some residents would also like to see the nearby VoiceStream Wireless antenna moved at the same time.
"We are asking that Voice-Stream be a good neighbor and remove it at the same time that AT&T is relocating," said Ed Uchida, whose daughter and three grandchildren live near the antenna. "AT&T is building its pole extra high to accommodate two other carriers, so this is an opportunity for them to move."
But the situations are different for the two carriers. Although AT&T's 57-foot antenna was installed at the site in September 2000, the company still needed city permits to keep it there. Voice-Stream's antenna has been at the same site for about three years and has all its permits in place.
"We are considering moving," said Laura Aotschul, VoiceStream's national director of government affairs. "Until all this attention was brought to the AT&T site, people didn't even realize that VoiceStream had a site. It was legally built and we followed all the rules."
Both antennas are about 20 feet from the nearest home on Puneki Way, and neighbors worry about possible health risks from radio frequency and electromagnetic fields.
After a 10-month battle to deny AT&T permits for its antenna, residents, AT&T representatives and city officials reached an agreement last month to move it about a half-mile away to Mililani Mauka District Park within 60 days. That site is about 500 feet from the nearest homes.
Lissa Guild, public relations manager for AT&T, said the city has agreed to give AT&T a long-term lease for the new site, and to expedite building and conditional use permits to allow a quick completion of the move.
Use of the new antenna site will also be offered to two other cellular phone carriers to help limit the number of antennas in the area, Guild said, and the company has contacted several other carriers to offer antenna space, but no one has responded.
Aotschul said VoiceStream is aware of the community concerns, but said its antenna is safe and well below FCC guidelines for radio frequency emissions.
"In order for us to move, since there is no legal reason, we are going to have to make sure our costs are covered by someone else," Aotschul said. "If that doesn't happen, unfortunately in this type of situation, those costs would end up being passed on to our customers."
VoiceStream has a long-term lease for its site from the city Board of Water Supply, but it will come under review in two years.
"We have already paid for the site and it takes about seven years to get a return on your construction costs," she said. "The issues on the table for us are paying for relocation and the construction of the new site. If we move, we have to restore the existing site. That all costs money."
Reach James Gonser at jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com or 988-1383.
