Campaigners against cellular towers believe one giant mast could solve Bermuda's radiation controversy. But fresh arguments were raging last night -- with industry officials saying a single tower would have to be a "monster'', up to 600 feet tall.

Bermuda 38th mast is now being built on Southampton Princess-owned land at Faraway in Warwick.

The Warwick mast, for CellularOne cell-phones, will be inspected as soon as construction is over. And Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb told The Royal Gazette yesterday that Bermuda was stuck with so many towers in a 21-square-mile area because the Island must not be cut off from the rest of the world. Pressure group Communities Against Radiation Emmissions want communications firms to link up to one huge antenna so all the other towers can be torn down.

CARE have organised a series of protests againt the 40-foot tower being built by Bermuda Digital Communications at Faraway.

They believe there may be a strong link between the cellular towers and cancer. CARE spokesman Steve Thomson said last night that industry experts had told him one tower could serve all of Bermuda. He added: "I have been told that one tower could run all of this country. Does anybody believe, for instance, that they have 38 towers within a 21-square-mile area in Britain? Pressure group wants one tower for Bermuda tall. In the US and the UK, we are talking about towers being at least 150 or 200 feet high.

"But if we put a tall tower in the middle of somewhere like Ocean View golf course, where there are no houses within an 800-foot radius, we could all feel much safer.

"Everybody understands that. The taller the masts are, the further away the radiation is from our brains.'' But BDC General Manager Michael Leverock warned the tower would be between 400 and 600 feet tall.

He said: "It's not a viable solution. The highest towers we have here right now are 250 feet tall and they don't serve the whole Island.

"The tower would have to be one hell of a monster and the area required would have to be very large.

"The topography in places like Britain and the US is very different with large, flat land masses.

"Bermuda has hills and valleys close together and places like Blackwatch Pass which present other difficulties.

"Yes one mast could serve Bermuda. But a 400-foot tower would be a conservative estimate. It would probably have to be up to 500 or 600 feet high.

"We are talking about the equivalent of a high rise building.'' Here are the arguments in Bermuda's cellular tower dispute: Bermuda Digital Communications say the tower at Faraway in Warwick will operate at less than three percent of maximum radiation levels permitted by the US Federal Communications Commission.

The Government says licences for all Bermuda's cellular towers were granted by the previous United Bermuda Party administration.

They have pledged to inspect the 40-foot tower at Faraway and encourage more communications users for each towers, to stop more being built.

Communities Against Radiation Emissions say the FCC standards for Bermuda are too low -- and are also disputed by the US Environmental Protection Agency.

CARE says the European Community is also considering laws to make tower radiation standards 10,000 times stricter than Bermuda.

The group says other governments, including Australia, New Zealand and Austria, have already adopted tougher laws, believing there may be a link between the towers and cancer. The World Health Organisation is already conducting a review of the possible dangers.

CARE also believes Bermuda could be served by one giant tower, instead of the 38 masts. But BDC say that tower would have to be 400 to 600 feet tall.