Opponents of a cellphone tower in the tiny southeastern B.C. community of New Denver say their ongoing fight against the technology is paying off, even though Telus is going ahead with its plans.

Spokesman Richard Caniell says the groups can't stop the microwave tower from being installed in the Kootenay community in the southern Interior of B.C., after Industry Canada ruled the phone company can build the tower, despite community objections.

But Caniell said they believe they have convinced Telus to build it so it transmits an extremely low electromagnetic field. Telus has committed to an exposure level below 1,000 microwatts per square metre, meeting recommendations contained in an independent bio-initiative report, he said.

New Denver's Parent Children's Association and the Valhalla Committee for Environmental Health said Telus is acting in good faith as it brings cellular coverage to the Slocan Valley.

But Telus said the design remains unchanged because all its towers, not just the New Denver structure, have the same low emission levels.

Caniell says the groups will now suspend their opposition based on health concerns, but remain distressed at the prospect of widespread use of high-tech cellphones.

A recent British study concluded children whose mothers lived close to a mobile phone tower while pregnant did not appear to be at any higher risk of cancer than children whose mothers lived farther away, while a second larger study of 13,000 cellphone users over 10 years found no link between brain cancer and cellphone use.