SPRINGFIELD - When Springfield resident Alicia Matis used her cell phone months ago, she had to sit in her kitchen at just the right angle in order to keep from being disconnected.

With the construction and recent completion of a 180-foot Verizon cell phone tower on Pine Cobble between Griggs and Continental Roads, people can hear her now.

"Now I got full service," she said Thursday afternoon.

Matis and other area cell phone users have been making similar discoveries throughout the last month. Cell phone service -only for Verizon Wireless customers - has dramatically improved thanks to the new tower, which officially went online Oct. 20 said Gene Fassett, Verizon's executive director of network in upstate New York.

Fassett said the tower's coverage area extends from Route 20 on the western edge of Springfield to the eastern edge bordering Cherry Valley. It also services Glimmerglass State Park and a section of Route 80 along Otsego Lake, he said.

Springfield resident Jim Willsey also has a Verizon cell phone and said he's been using it for about three weeks.

"We're really happy to have it," he said. "Everybody's talking about it."

Matis, who lives on Continental Road in sight of the cell tower, said she's happy to have service.

"I love it," she said. "I'm glad they put it in." She said the tower wasn't an eyesore because it was located in the woods and was largely out of sight.

Planning board chairman David Staley, who - along with several other planning board members - expressed some concerns in June about the tower's aesthetic impact on the area, said so far he was pleasantly surprised.

"It has a lesser impact on the aesthetics of the landscape than I truly expected," Staley said Thursday morning. "It doesn't bother me as much as I thought it would."

Construction of the tower was approved by the town planning board at a meeting June 2 by a vote of 4-2 after a public hearing. All comments from the public during the hearing were in favor of the tower's construction.

The tower was approved with several conditions. The tower is to remain unpainted galvanized gray, will not be lit at night, provides co-location access for up to four other carriers, is enclosed in an 8-feet high fence posted with a No Trespassing sign containing the contact information of the owner, will have annual inspections and will allow access to the Audubon Society to determine the tower's impact on birds.

The conditions also required that Verizon post a $25,000 bond to support the tower's removal if it is unused for two or more years and that the company notifies the town if any new antennas are added to the site.

Staley said Verizon had mailed the planning board proof of the bond and had fulfilled all requirements.

"Our dealings with them are pretty much done," he said. "They've filled all the conditions."

Verizon offers a full range of digital services through the tower, including standard cell phone service and wireless internet access, said John O'Malley, a spokesperson with the company. Internet access works by purchasing an AirCard which can be plugged into laptop computers. An active Verizon Wireless account is required and the connection speed averages between 60 to 80 kilobytes per second, slightly faster than a standard 56k modem connection, O'Malley said.

The tower is owned by Verizon and sits on land owned by Shirley Bridger of Springfield, Fassett said. He said the company does not disclose specific terms of their contracts, but said the site is being rented under a "long-term agreement."

While cell phone service in the area is limited to Verizon customers for now, the tower provides space for up to four other carriers. Fassett said none of Verizon's competitors had contacted them about it yet.

O'Malley said the Springfield cell tower was part of the more than $170 million being spent in upstate New York this year by Verizon in their effort to expand the Verizon Wireless network.