Bernard Lord, president of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, says there is no proof to support claims that cell phone towers cause health problems. (CBC)

A phone industry spokesperson is questioning St. John's city council's decision to reject an application to build a new cell phone tower.

Bell Mobility wants to put a 30-metre tower on Torbay Road.

Some councillors were worried about the lack of a safe fall zone for the tower, while others expressed concerns about possible health impacts.

Bernard Lord, president of the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, said there is no evidence to support claims that cell phone towers cause health problems, and the industry follows the standards set by Health Canada.

"There are groups of people out there that simply convey information that is incorrect and like to scare people, unfortunately that happens," Lord said.

"There's over 13,000 cell sites in Canada, there's more sites going up and the reason more sites are going up is because people want more service."

Lord said the need for new towers will increase as demand for service continually grows.

He said wireless data usage is expected to double every year, with some networks currently growing by five per cent per week in parts of the country.