[kictanet] Something that We Cannot See Is Holding 5G Back in Africa

Thu Jul 16 17:39:10 EAT 2020

Dear Kathy
I can’t give a scientific answer to the risks of putting plastic inside a microwave, as I am not a scientist but I think there is a difference since humans stand outside of it, shielded, compared to a plastic item inside. I am aware that Microwaves use a lot more power and much higher EMF than 5G.

Beamforming will reduce EMF exposure, but either way, both are safe, since the radiation is non-ionizing irrelevant of the amount of exposure.

I am not sure what protections you would suggest, but if 5G EMF is the same as 4G and 3G, what you are already advising people who currently use 3G or 4G devices or Wi-Fi (the wi-fi router in your home is likely much closer to you than the base station)?

I think we should be educating people that it is safe, not scaring them that it is dangerous and to take some protections that are unnecessary and hard to quantify or qualify.

By the way, Safaricom have a fairly good website and EMF booklet which I believe is what they use when they engage communities around new base stations which is part of the legal process for getting NEMA approval. https://www.safaricom.co.ke/EMF/

I’m not speaking on behalf of Safaricom of course, but just sharing the resource.
Adam

From: Kathy Mwai [mailto:kathymwai at gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2020 3:42 PM
To: Adam Lane <adam.lane at huawei.com>
Cc: KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Something that We Cannot See Is Holding 5G Back in Africa

Dear Adam,

With the resources shared here and it is great that this has been discussed locally, I will take some time to read it, to add to the knowledge I have been gaining for a while now on 5G.

To your argument on 5G being on the non-ionizing range just before the household microwave actually, my earlier point on the fact that we have been educated not to use plastic on the microwave, how is it that that would be harmful, and 5G not? It does not add up.

And yes I am aware that 4G and 5G can be located, for obvious reasons. And I also know that 5G can be argued to be safe because of it being 'radiation on demand' unlike 4G which transmits 24/7. However, since our devices are always sending out a beacon looking for the next wireless connection, this will definitely lead to multiple beamforming antennas working together to concentrate the focus, inevitably emitting even more radiation than a single antenna.

To deny that there is an extent of biological harm in 5G, is not responsible. That it is excellent for business, it is indisputable. We can have both - roll out 5G and have healthy people. We just need to let them know how they can protect themselves...

Kathy

On Thu, 16 Jul 2020 at 13:14, Adam Lane <adam.lane at huawei.com<mailto:adam.lane at huawei.com>> wrote:
Dear Kathy
I could not disagree with you more about 5G being unsafe. It is 100% safe. The radiowaves it uses are in a category defined as non-ionizing. This is the same category as regular lightbulbs as well as sunlight. And the power of 5G is about 12.5W, which is less than a lightbulb (20-200W).

5G signal strength for a consumer has power of 0.1-0.5mW/m2 which is less than a normal smartphone (1-10 mW/m2) or a hairdryer (4mW/m2).

The WHO has said categorically that there is no evidence that low-intensity EMF is harmful to human health. There are thousands of items listed as category 2B (“there is evidence that falls short of being conclusive that exposure may cause cancer in humans"), which includes pickled foods, coffee etc.

The next up, more dangerous class includes alcohol, processed meat amongst other things. I am not aware that processed meat carries any health warnings….

You may have been using 3G or 4G for a while, and be shocked to know that 5G in 90% of the world uses the exact same frequencies. So you may want to go back to a 2G feature phone. The global guidelines on non-ionizing radiations are issued by the ICNIRP. They were updated just 3 months ago.

There is a lot of scientific research that I can share if you like. You may also want to listen to the KICTAnet webinar with the CA and NCS discussing this. https://www.apc.org/en/news/kictanet-5g-myths-realities-opportunities. Feel free to watch the recording of the webinar, or if necessary KICTAnet could organize another one!

I very much agree that the public needs this information to be better informed that there are zero health risks from 3G, 4G or 5G.
Regards
Adam

From: kictanet [mailto:kictanet-bounces+adam.lane<mailto:kictanet-bounces%2Badam.lane>=huawei.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:huawei.com at lists.kictanet.or.ke>] On Behalf Of Kathy Mwai via kictanet
Sent: Thursday, July 16, 2020 12:24 PM
To: Adam Lane <adam.lane at huawei.com<mailto:adam.lane at huawei.com>>
Cc: Kathy Mwai <kathymwai at gmail.com<mailto:kathymwai at gmail.com>>; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>>
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Something that We Cannot See Is Holding 5G Back in Africa

Florence,
There definitely needs to be public health awareness about the harmful effects of EMF radiation resulting from 5G Antennas.  The World Health Organization has classified cell tower type radiation exposures as a ‘possible Class 2B carcinogen’. For example, nearly everyone knows not to use plastic in the microwave, a much lower emitter of EMFs. Cigarettes and alcohol have this kind of awareness created, as so is a bar of chocolate that warns you it may contain peanuts, gluten or dairy - we see this kind of warning in restaurants as well. The FCC guidelines that direct the set up of today's technologies were established in 1996. Obviously way behind time! 5G is not safe - plain and simple. They are man-made EMFs which are totally polarized and incoherent and are more bio-active than natural EMFs which explains the biological effects of EMF. The public needs to be protected from its harmful effects.

And to your point Samuel, I'm actually rather surprised at the response of China upon being kicked out of the UK networks - must indicate very high stakes involved. Worth a keen eye going forward...

Kathy

On Thu, 16 Jul 2020 at 09:25, florence mwangangi <fmwangangi1 at gmail.com<mailto:fmwangangi1 at gmail.com>> wrote:
I cannot agree more with you Kathy. The Judiciary once abandoned the idea of taking up some premises in Nairobi for use by the Court of Appeal principally for fear of negative effects on the health of the users of the premises from  suspected radiation from nearby telecommunications infrastructure.
How now does the public get to be educated on all matters-5G including the "rumoured" radiation, it being their constitutional right to access the information?

On Wed, 15 Jul 2020, 16:41 Kathy Mwai via kictanet, <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:
You do make a case for 5G in Africa, and Kenya specifically. It was only yesterday however that Britain decided to strip Huawei out of its 5G network implementation. While I am not indicating this is the trend that Kenya should follow, the point I want to make is that I do not think we are going to accept 5G infrastructure in our residential areas particularly without questioning it.

Yes, they may just be conspiracy theories about the radiation dangers of 5G, but if I could use my neighbourhood as an example, the residents here have decided to contend with poor network connection than have the telecommunications company install a mast.

It is not an easy decision because the emerging technologies do require 5G strength to work optimally. I wonder if there are groups working to educate people on how to mitigate the radiation effects of 5G. There are some I know online and it would help everyone to get themselves educated on it so that when the inevitable time of 5G rollout comes, then you can protect yourself - to an extent!

Kathy

On Wed, 15 Jul 2020 at 15:47, Adam Lane via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke<mailto:kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>> wrote:

https://blog.huawei.com/2020/07/14/something-that-we-cannot-see-is-holding-5g-back-in-africa/

Something that We Cannot See Is Holding 5G Back in Africa

There is an intangible resource that most people do not know exists and cannot be seen or touched. That resource is holding Africa back from rolling out high-speed 5G mobile services. If we don’t solve managing this resource better, then we won’t get 5G in Africa and we’ll be left behind.

Spectrum is of critical importance in Africa. Not necessarily because Africans need high-speed mobile phone services, nor because they are likely to have tens of thousands packed into stadiums or highly dense areas (especially this year). And it’s not because self-driving cars will be populating the continent’s roads any time soon.

It is of critical importance because so few homes and businesses have fiber in Africa.

However, through Fixed Wireless Access (FWA/WTTx) solutions, 5G can provide fiber-like services without requiring the expense or time needed to install fiber. Upgrading existing base stations and deploying a CPE (Customer Premises Equipment) like a mobile router or dongle inside or outside an office or home instantly yields the fiber-like speeds that are critical for e-commerce and online learning. And now more than ever, it is clear how important both are.

Spectrum 101

Most people may think of spectrum as a range of colors in a rainbow, or a range on which political opinions belong.

But it also refers to the range of wavelengths of electromagnetic radiation. Even though these are generally invisible to the human eye, spectrum matters for communications, whether it is radio, Wi-Fi, mobile phones, or satellite broadcasts — all use electromagnetic waves to travel and reach a user.

The Role of Governments

The use of these intangible wavelengths are regulated by governments to prevent multiple users using the same frequencies of spectrum, as this would cause interference and nothing would reach the user. At a global level, the UN oversees a process for all countries to agree on the kind of users for different frequencies (such as for Wi-Fi, mobile phones, or meteorological use). At the national level, the government decides which specific organisations or companies can use that spectrum.

National governments often charge a fee to commercial companies for using this — one purpose is to recoup the costs for managing, monitoring, and enforcing the regulation of spectrum. Another is to generate revenue for the government. And a third (and arguably the most important) is to weed out those who may not be serious about using the spectrum. In other words, they want companies that have the resources to invest in the infrastructure to use it. So the thinking goes that if serious players can afford the spectrum, they can also afford to pay for the infrastructure.

Regulators want to support existing actors with solid track records to deliver infrastructure, but they don’t want to restrict new entrants to the market or innovation. So, they face striking a balance — to allow new companies to come in even if they do not have much in the way of resources yet, but are serious and could still make good use of the infrastructure in the future. There is also pressure from the treasury to generate as much money as possible. This may come from the richest companies, but could in turn affect these companies’ finances, so they cannot subsequently invest in building networks.

For high-speeds, it is necessary to have large amounts of spectrum in a big block. But right now, few companies in Africa have that, which means no company can provide it. Lots of companies each have small amounts of spectrum, so none can provide a high-speed network to lots of people. It is critical that this changes — and urgently. Companies, whether big or small, existing or new, must be given access to that spectrum. And there must be enough to go around, providing it is only given to companies that are really serious about using it and are seriously able to make the necessary investments.

During COVID-19, South Africa has temporarily made spectrum available to its operators. This has resulted in two new operators launching 5G (one launched last year with the spectrum it already had). With the affordability of Internet data creating such a critical challenge in Africa, the prices local operators are charging for 5G are telling:

   - Comparing 5G with 4G, one operator will give you 10 times more data for only 4 times the price, or 40 times more data for only 6 times the price.

    -.Another provides unlimited data and charges by speed instead, just like a traditional fiber service, even though they are using mobile.

Countries like Nigeria, Ghana and Kenya have strong technology sectors, innovative local companies, a significant presence from international companies, and a strong focus on creating jobs involving technology. They need to move faster with 5G to ensure future development.

Future businesses in the technology industry and the profits, social impact, and jobs that come with that, rely on having high-speed Internet for consumers through FWA. Millions of Africans could use that connectivity to get trained online, get jobs online, earn money online, and create tech businesses. And now is the time to make that happen.

--------------------------------------------------
M: +254-790985886
Deputy CEO, Government Affairs
Huawei Kenya
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