Can You Hear Me Now?

Mobi PCS to install six antennas on Paddlers’ roof.

Mobi PCS plans to construct six new cell phone antennas on the roof of Paddlers Inn that will improve service for Molokai customers.

The antennas will provide better service in Kaunakakai and along the island’s southern coastline. Customers will notice a marked improvement, said Eric Schatz, Mobi PCS director of site acquisition and development.

Mobi PCS’s permit to build the antennas was approved last week by the Molokai Planning Commission. The company must now go to the Maui County Planning Department for further approval. Schatz couldn’t say when the antennas will be installed.

The antennas will be six feet tall and join three existing antennas on the building already in service owned by Sprint Nextel. Those are each about 34 inches tall and were installed three to four years ago, according to Carl Young, a zoning consultant for Mobi PCS and Sprint Nextel.

Other buildings considered for the Mobi PCS antennas were ACE Hardware, Subway/Molokai Surf and the old power plant across from Paddlers.