PORTLAND (AP) – In the last two years, the number of cell phones in Maine has grown from 200,000 to 500,000. But users say they have not noticed an improvement in service or an increase in coverage.

Cell phones still cannot be used in large sections of the state, from Gerrish Island in Kittery to northern Maine, and coverage is spotty for cell phone users who stray away from urban areas or major highways.

Cell phone companies readily admit they are concentrating on larger markets and coverage will lag in New England’s less densely populated states.

Samuel Zaitlin, chairman of the Maine Turnpike Authority, said he takes Interstate 295 through Portland instead of driving the turnpike on his way from Biddeford to Augusta for biweekly meetings.

He said chooses his route to avoid dead zones along the Maine Turnpike, the state’s most heavily traveled highway.

“Cell phone companies are offering phones that do everything but cook breakfast, but they can’t give you quality service,” said Zaitlin, who has launched a crusade to improve cell phone service.

Although the Federal Communications Commission issues licenses to cell phone carriers with the condition that they eventually support 100 percent of the U.S. population, total coverage is decades away, said Richard Enright, director of network engineering for New England at Verizon Wireless.

Martin Nee, communications director at AT&T Wireless, said part of the problem is that carriers meet resistance when trying to erect more cell phone towers from communities concerned about aesthetics and historic structures.

Nee also said there is a disconnect between customer expectations and technological reality. He said the digital technology behind today’s generation of cell phones has been around for less than 10 years.

“Overnight people felt this should work wherever you go,” said Nee, who contends there is no network now in existence that provides 100 percent coverage.

But Zaitlin said the problem may be more about priorities than technology.

“For anybody who travels between here and Augusta, no matter what service you use, you quickly come to appreciate how bad the service is,” Zaitlin said.

Jack Rupert, vice president of development at Mesa Communications, formerly Spectrum Resource Towers, a Virginia company that builds and owns communications towers in Maine, said there are already sufficient towers along the turnpike to provide unbroken coverage.

“I would say the issue is with the carriers and their desires and their plans,” Rupert said.

Nonetheless, Rupert said it does appear that carriers, who stopped spending on increased coverage in the latest economic downturn, appear to be extending coverage in Maine.

Zaitlin said not only safety and travel ease are at stake, but economic development. He said more than 90 percent of the products moving into or out of Maine travel on the turnpike.

“Ease of communications, the ability to be in touch, are essential components of economic vibrancy,” he said.

AP-ES-01-11-04 1513EST