A hotly-contested cell phone antenna proposed for Devonshire is needed to cover a weak area in phone reception, according to Digicel.

The application to Planning for a mobile tower up to 100ft high has racked up more than 230 objections.

However, according to Digicel head Wayne Caines the extra facilities might not even be necessary if the Island’s airwaves were more “fairly” distributed.

The tower in question, which has just gone before Planning, would be a mobile unit set up in an area of pasture, more than 100ft from any residences.

Concerns by residents about the devaluation of property and purported health risks posed by exposure to the electromagnetic fields and radio signals generated by the tower, resulted in a letter-writing campaign to Planning.

Mr Caines said that an opening up of radio space could do away with the issue by changing the allocation of radio frequencies used by cell providers.

Established in January of this year, the Bermuda Regulatory Authority (RA) is charged by Government with overseeing the Island’s telecommunications sector.

As such, the RA is the body responsible for “spectrum reassignment”, Mr Caines told The Royal Gazette.

“Spectrum is the lifeblood of the industry, and as more consumers buy smartphones, which can use 24 times more data than a traditional cell phones, there is clearly a greater need for spectrum,” he said.

“We believe that the RA can end the need for additional towers with the stroke of the pen by reallocating spectrum.”

Mr Caines said the company had already been in touch with the Government over the issue, and that Digicel “would welcome the quickest advancement of spectrum reallocation possible”.

“Our planning applications for permission to erect cell towers or poles are simply actions to allow us to give our customers the best Island-wide coverage, given that spectrum is not efficiently or fairly allocated at the present.”

According to a spokesman for the RA, the organisation’s remit doesn’t cover cell towers, which are regulated under Planning laws.

Under the Electronic Communications Act 2011, the RA is responsible for the assignment of the Island’s radio spectrum — which is recognised as “a scarce national resource” to be governed for the public good.

“The RA is working to timelines set out in legislation,” the spokesman said.

The authority is investigating the use of Bermuda’s radio spectrum, he said, and will ultimately make the decision over whether or not the current spectrum assignments are being efficiently used.

“Once this assessment is completed, and a statutory 18-month spectrum licence period has come to an end in October 2014, the RA has the option to decline to renew any such spectrum licence, or modify the spectrum licence,” the spokesman added.

Licence holders are required, under the Act, to demonstrate “a reasonable need for some or all of the spectrum assigned to it”.

The wireless spectrum is coming under heavier use worldwide, as customers tune in with increasingly sophisticated equipment.

According to the US Federal Communications Commission — also under pressure to fine-tune the allocation of airwaves — a tablet has an appetite for data 122 times that of a basic cell phone.