DATE: Wednesday, September 10, 1997         TAG: 9709110531

SECTION: BUSINESS                PAGE: D1   EDITION: FINAL 

                                            LENGTH:   57 lines

BEACH BATTLES PHONE COMPANIES IN COURT JUDGE WILL RULE SOON ON THE CITY'S DENIAL OF A TOWER PERMIT.

Two giants of telecommunications, along with a Methodist church, sparred in federal court Tuesday with the city of Virginia Beach.

The sticking point: two 135-foot phone towers that AT&T Wireless and PrimeCo Personal Communications want to build to beam signals to and from well-manicured Little Neck Peninsula neighborhoods.

The Virginia Beach City Council landed in U.S. District Court in Norfolk after it unanimously denied AT&T and PrimeCo's request to build the towers on church property. The phone company behemoths - PrimeCo is a partnership of Bell Atlantic Corp., U S West Media Group and Airtouch Communications - argue that the city's denial violates the Telecommunications Act of 1996.

Federal Judge Raymond A. Jackson did not rule on the matter Tuesday, but focused his questions on why the City Council turned down a conditional-use permit for the towers without stating a reason for the denial. Lynnhaven United Methodist Church had agreed to lease the land for the towers for $60,000 a year.

AT&T Wireless and PrimeCo claim that under the Telecommunications Act, the city cannot discriminate against certain wireless providers.

The digital wireless companies' attorney focused on one statement that Councilman William Harrison made when the city denied the request.

``Under the law, you may have rights I'm not aware of,'' Harrison said at the time. ``But under a conditional-use permit, you are about to go down in flames.''

Harrison's statement reveals ``a certain degree of indifference'' to federal law, said Brad Stillman, attorney for the phone companies. Harrison's council district includes the Little Neck community, whose residents petitioned against the permit.

Though cellular phone companies such as 360 Communications and GTE Wireless would like to boost their signals with transmitters on the tower, the transmitters are essential for digital providers AT&T Wireless and PrimeCo.

The digital services, although they claim to have a clearer signal than analog carriers, need more transmitters to carry that signal. AT&T Wireless and PrimeCo claim that the city's denial means their signal won't carry to Little Neck Peninsula, and that that puts them on uneven footing in competing against the cellular carriers.

The telecommunications act was intended to speed competitors' entry into new markets, such as wireless phone service. The law specifies that if a governmental body denies a request for a tower, it should specify the reason so the issues can be quickly addressed and the competition can begin, Stillman said.

Deputy City Attorney William M. Macali said the permit was denied because the tower would be incompatible with the neighborhood. But Judge Jackson said the reason isn't stated in city records.

Jackson said he would speak, in the form of a ruling, soon. ILLUSTRATION: JOHN C. BELL/file color photo

AT&T Wireless and PrimeCo want to build two 135-foot phone towers -

similar to this cellular tower behind Ocean View Elementary School

in Norfolk - to send signals to and from Little Neck Peninsula.

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