Churches: Holy Hosts for Cell-Phone Towers - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com

Churches: Holy Hosts for Cell-Phone Towers - Newsweek Periscope - MSNBC.com: "Tech: Answered Prayers

Newsweek
July 24, 2006 issue - This is the church, this is the steeple. Open it up and see all the ... cellular antennas? New England churches have found a solution to dwindling budgets: renting their picturesque steeples to wireless companies in need of cell sites. Zoning laws don't allow cell towers in residential areas (and residents don't want ugly structures), so wireless companies have had trouble providing coverage to hilly nonurban areas. But since many of New England's historic churches have been grandfathered into local zoning laws, wireless companies can install externally invisible antennas inside steeples. Tom Moylan, president and CEO of SteepleCom, a wireless- consulting firm specifically for churches, figures it'"