5G and Trump’s Tweets – Ignorance, Greed, or Insanity?

[Mr Hate Coffee]

Subs. I work with a company tryna roll out 5G. I didnt know about health concerns

 

[loyola llothta]

‘Telecom Industry Did No Research on Health Impacts of 5G’
By Prof. Paul Heroux and Akshyt Sangomla


India plans to begin 5G trials by 2020, but experts and industry stand at odds over its impact on human health and environment. The fifth generation wireless network promises to be 50 times faster than its predecessor — 4G. Down To Earth talked to a series of experts on the issue

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Paul Heroux, professor of toxicology and health effects of electromagnetism at Department of Surgery, McGill University Health Centre, Canada, speaks with Down To Earth about adoption of 5G will be detrimental towards people’s health.

Akshyt Sangomla: What are the primary health impacts of using 5G mobile network and is there enough scientific evidence to prove that these impacts will take place?

Paul Heroux: All artificial electromagnetic radiation is a problem because biological systems are not adapted to it. Since exposure has increased progressively and started at a time when disease detection was primitive, those impacts went largely unnoticed. The health evidence has been there, but ignored for decades. 5G will promote cell phone use and therefore human exposures to phones and base stations. The higher frequencies will concentrate the radiation in a smaller portion of the human body because of smaller penetration depth. These frequencies also need more intensity to allow penetration through obstacles. The exposures will be more concentrated over time because of the beam-forming (5-10°) that is specific to 5G.


On the specific issue of cancer, all major animal studies, including Chou (1992), Repacholi (1997) and NTP-Ramzzini (2019) confirm carcinogenic action of electromagnetic radiation (EMR).

AS: Countries like UK, US and even India are pushing for faster adoption of 5G? Have the concerns around health impacts been resolved?

PH: Industry has performed no health studies on 5G. They do not need to as they have a stranglehold on legislation that allows them to arbitrarily place base stations where they went on streets close to homes and people have no recourse whatsoever. Dominique Bellepomme, an oncologist in Paris, calls this a “crime against humanity”. As usual, to push adoption of the next update, industry represents that 5G is a revolution, while in fact it is only an expansion of wireless. Most of the applications presented to promote it are “vapourware”, things that either already exist or will never see implementation. Self-driving cars can be designed without 5G. The internet of things is an invasion to privacy primarily optimised for spying and should be framed with restrictions that protect private information and the right not to be irradiated by EMR.

AS: In a completely 5G-connected world how severe could these impacts be?

PH: There would be impacts on cancer rates, on neurological diseases, including electrical hypersensitivity (EHS), fertility and diabetes. Children are particularly vulnerable.

AS: What is the current stand of the European Union and other global bodies about the health consequences of 5G?

PH: The International Agency for Research on Cancer in Lyon, France, warned in 2002 and 2011 about the connection between EMR and cancer. Many other international and public bodies are under the direct influence of industries. Since this question involves interdisciplinary science, it has been possible for industry specialists to infiltrate many organisations, who also get generous donations from large tech corporations. The convenience of wireless has created a huge financial base and a wide public audience that has been driven to believe by publicity and simplistic science that there are no health implications to EMR.

AS: Can the health impacts be reduced without affecting implementation of 5G?

PH: It is perfectly possible to design the fastest telecommunication systems while minimising health impacts. First, give the highest priority to deployment of optical fibre networks to home and businesses, which can, ultimately, be two crore times faster than 5G. Second, capitalise on wired connections, which, like cable, can bring speeds of 10 gb/second to homes. Third, recognise cell phones for what they are: a radiating device. Redesign them to minimise user exposures, which can result in reduction by factors of 100. And, use them sparingly, rather than letting them become a substitute to workstations, and the home of eye candy.

The original source of this article is Down To Earth
Copyright © Prof. Paul Heroux and Akshyt Sangomla, Down To Earth, 2019

 

[loyola llothta]

New video: Tearing up sidewalks for 5G future

Published on Nov 18, 2019
Verizon and AT&T are leading Miami’s push to install 5G technology ahead of Super Bowl LIV, slated for February. The installation of 5G poles and infrastructure every few hundred feet in the most popular parts of the city is leaving a mess of spray-painted markings, dangling wires and torn up sidewalks in its wake. Tourists and residents alike are taking note. RT America’s John Huddy reports for the News with Rick Sanchez.

 

[Strapped]

I have a shyt load of it around here

 

[loyola llothta]

Now everbody talking about 5g

 

[loyola llothta]

After the virus: A 5G gold rush?

The surge of Americans working, learning and socializing online is helping make the wireless industry's case for building superfast internet connections.

The wireless industry has spent years touting its investments in U.S. communications architecture and says 5G will create spill-over effects to a broader connected economy.

The great American lockdown that put the economy on ice is fueling hopes of a 5G boom.

U.S. mobile carriers were already planning to spend big on deploying superfast wireless internet in the coming years. Then the coronavirus pushed a massive nationwide adoption of Zoom video conferences, distance learning, online doctors’ visits and daylong Netflix binges — and the top internet providers are ready to spend a lot more.



It’s a bright spot for an otherwise cratering economy: A day before President Donald Trump declared Covid-19 a national emergency, Verizon announced it was boosting its estimated capital investment for this year by $500 million, to as much as $18.5 billion, to accelerate its 5G efforts. AT&T, meanwhile, abandoned a planned $4 billion stock buyback March 20, telling regulators that instead it would keep the cash available for helping workers and "enhancing our network, including nationwide 5G."

Such choices "will help ensure the Company is well positioned when the pandemic passes and economies begin to recover," AT&T added.

Connectivity is having a moment in a hunkered-down nation, with every Skyped play date and Slacked workplace conversation calling new attention to the benefits of ubiquitous internet adoption, even at existing 4G or slower speeds. That can only fuel a hunger for bigger, faster, more abundant broadband — a demand that may aid the wireless industry’s quest for assistance in clearing away regulatory obstacles.

“Now’s a time when everybody’s seeing you need it,” Jonathan Adelstein, a former FCC commissioner who leads the Wireless Infrastructure Association, told POLITICO. “It really is opening people’s eyes hopefully to how important this is. And when we get 5G, it’s going to be even more exciting.”

Trump drove home that message in a conference call Tuesday with companies including AT&T, Verizon, Comcast and Charter Communications, thanking them for keeping the country running. "With business at a level that nobody's seen it before on the internet, it’s holding up incredibly well and they expect that to continue no matter what happens and no matter how much more it gains," Trump told reporters at a briefing that evening.

That’s a departure from the criticism that Trump and his allies have leveled at some of the same companies, such as his campaign manager's accusations that Verizon is wildly overstating its 5G service in the U.S.

For now, the giant communications companies haven’t received any special share of the trillions in economic rescue dollars that Capitol Hill is doling out in response to the pandemic, although they could benefit indirectly from $200 million provided for the Federal Communications Commission's telehealth programs. (The bill also provided millions of dollars to support long-running Agriculture Department broadband subsidy efforts.) But the industry has sought Washington’s assistance in expediting wireless buildout by sidestepping some of the required state and local regulatory approvals — a proposal that Senate Republicans privately pushed for during Congress’ recent stimulus negotiations, one GOP congressional source told POLITICO.

A fourth round of virus-related stimulus spending could include hundreds of millions to help bolster online learning endeavors, something Republicans floated during the negotiations for the most recent bill. Democrats had proposed several billion dollars for similar efforts as well as money dedicated to helping keep low-income Americans digitally connected.

The industry is also making efforts to win the good graces of consumers in need. Cisco, which makes the wireless switches and routers that much of the internet runs on, has pledged $225 million to help with global recovery efforts. AT&T created a $10 million fund aimed at helping families and teachers with remote learning tools. Verizon and T-Mobile are expanding more affordable calling plans, while hundreds of large and small internet service providers have pledged not to cut off consumers struggling with the pandemic, even those who cannot pay their bills right away, and some communications companies have waived policies capping data usage.

The wireless industry has also spent years touting its investments in U.S. communications architecture — $275 billion for next-generation wireless, according to one popular industry estimate — and says 5G will create spill-over effects to a broader connected economy, generating new jobs and stimulating commerce.

And as a record-breaking 3 million employees applied for unemployment benefits last week, the companies building 5G have said they are facing an enormous shortage of skilled labor. The industry for months has sought millions of dollars in government assistance in training workers more quickly, something it says could benefit both the telecom companies and the many newly laid-off workers.

Wireless providers are also embroiled in lobbying fights with countless players, from the Pentagon to utility companies, in their hunt for slices of spectrum that can carry 5G signals. But the carriers are still optimistic that the U.S. can dominate 5G as long as the Federal Communications Commission keeps selling off airwaves as scheduled, said Nick Ludlum, senior vice president for trade group CTIA.

The virus has caused some slowdown, however. The commission recently postponed a 5G airwaves auction set to start in June by one month because of the pandemic. An international standards body has also delayed the rollout of a set of key technical standards for 5G after the virus forced the cancellation of some of its meetings.

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After the virus: A 5G gold rush?