The planning commission has approved a plan for wireless facilities to be installed in residential neighborhoods. All that's left is city council's approval.

"This master plan is the first one of its kind in California," said senior planner Collin Jung. Jung has worked with the city's telecommunications commission for the past year to draft the plan.

The planning commission, at its Sept. 22 meeting, unanimously approved a master plan, which provides guidelines for wireless service providers to build antennas throughout the city. Right now, wireless facilities are prohibited in residential areas.

But how soon the service will improve depends on the carriers' willingness to follow the city's plan.

Coverage for cell phones is often spotty or non-existent in many Bay Area locations, particularly in residential neighborhoods. There are two major reasons for the lack of coverage, according to Jung.

"First of all, wireless service companies have historically installed their cell site facilities along freeways, major streets as well as commercial and industrial centers, where most of their customers use the phones," he said. "Second, many communities have prohibited cell site facilities from being located in residential areas because of health concerns or visual impact."

However, the demand for wireless communication is growing.

The Federal Communications Commission reports that there were 122 million wireless subscribers nationwide at the end of 2001, a 54 percent rise from 1999. In California, wireless phones are even more popular with the number of subscribers soaring a 76 percent during the same period.

As more customers demand cell phone services at home, not only for audio but also video and data transmission and Internet services, there is an increasing pressure to bring cell site facilities into neighborhoods.

Therefore, city staff has been working to make guidelines that will facilitate usage of wireless services while maintaining community aesthetics and ensuring safety.

In the plan, service providers are encouraged to install antennas on streetlights, traffic signals, utility poles and existing PG&E towers. Billboards and flagpoles for American and state flags are excluded as potential sites.

The planning commission recommends allowing carriers to install wireless facilities at school sites, but the schools and property owners have the rights to reject carriers. Currently elementary and middle school campuses don't have any antennas. And only one high school, Cupertino High, has antennas on campus.

Staff doesn't recommend individual neighborhood notification of every antenna site because such notifications might create a false expectation of control that is unwarranted. Once the city decides to allow personal wireless service facilities in the neighborhoods, the city will have limited discretion over the facilities' locations.

"The city has no authority or jurisdiction regulating wireless facilities based on radio frequency radiation. Federal law prohibits local agencies from doing that when the carriers meet FCC guidelines," Jung said.

Representatives from Vernon and Singular are positive about the plan. But it is uncertain when the providers will start installing antennas throughout the city.