British Columbia village wants to ban cell phones

voted down an initiative to introduce mobile phone service in their town. It’s actually a quite complicated matter. First, the town can do little to force Telus, the telecom in question, to stay away. “The telecommunications companies have a very effective lobby,” says New Denver Mayor Gary Wright. “They are the only industry that is guaranteed universal access to any location anywhere they want, in order to make their for-profit services available to anyone.” He says that they have not abused their special status, but would still like them to stay away. The townspeople are also concerned with studies linking cell phone radiation to brain tumors. In particular, they’re looking at a September 2007 study by teh Valhalla Committee for Environmental Health.

“That report brings together extensive findings by medical doctors and research scientists from the U.S., Sweden, Denmark, Austria, China and the U.K.,” says Richard Caniell, the chair of the Valhalla Environmental Health Committee. “It corroborates the concern about health hazards expressed by villagers here.”

And of course, there’s the peace and quiet argument.

“A cell phone-free zone would be competitive advantage in marketing the area as a tourist destination and as a place to live,” says Bill Roberts, the chair of the Slocan Valley Economic Development Commission of the Regional District of Central Kootenay.

The vote in the town was close, 117 to 110, so this likely won’t be the end of it. Telus might consider staying away for a bit, as it wouldn’t make economical sense to offer a service to people who don’t want it. But it appears there is a contingency in the town who do want cell service. The question: Can you imagine your town if they voted down cell service? [The Tyee]]]>