Unfounded radiation fears stymie mobile network expansion: experts

Scientifically unfounded apprehensions of health risks from radio waves of phone masts have turned into a major impediment to the delivery of better services from telecom and tower service providers. 

Building owners, especially in Dhaka and other metropolitan areas, are reluctant to lease out their roofs to the service providers as they fear that their close proximity with the antenna will expose them to more radiation, said the industry people.

Mobile network towers make use of radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (EMF), a type of non-ionising electromagnetic radiation that does not have enough energy to damage DNA and cannot directly cause cancer.

One of the few known effects of radio waves on the human body is a very small rise in temperature of up to 0.2 degree Celsius. But research is still continuing to make sure that there are no potential long-term effects.

"The degree of radiation a tower emits will not cause any problem," said Satya Prasad Majumder, vice-chancellor of the Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

"You can't read without light and similarly too much light would harm the eye. A minimum level of radiation is given off the antenna and is designed taking all safety concerns into account so that people can talk on phones without facing any problem from that," he said.

"People who are concerned about it don't know anything about it. They got panicked when the world introduced 1G or 2G and they are still in panic but the world is poised to introduce 6G. If they were right, technology would not have advanced," he said.

According to Majumder, the building or infrastructure that houses a mobile network tower is likely to be less exposed to the radiation.

"Torch light enables us to see the object where we point it. Similarly, antenna is directed to the far areas," he said.

X-rays, gamma rays, and ultraviolet rays, as ionizing radiation, can cause harm to the human body, not radio wave and microwaves, said Dr Shamsuzzoha, deputy director of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The rolling out of towers for network expansion has been a challenge for operators and voice and internet services have been compromised, said officials of the operators and regulator.

On many occasions the operators' staff faced backlash from resident welfare associations or building communities while installing towers, according to industry people.

The operators said they found it extremely difficult to get the greenlight to install infrastructure, even from government entities.

For example, a BTRC officials said they were finding it difficult to get approval from government agencies in letting the operators install network infrastructure at its new office in the capital's Agargaon, which was scheduled to open next month.

The problems with installing towers in government buildings arise from Public Works Department and other entities, Brig Gen Md Ehsanul Kabir, director general for engineering and operations division at the BTRC, said recently at an event.

"We face it at every step," he said.

The BTRC is yet to get approvals for network infrastructure installation on the Padma bridge, metro rail and Karnaphuli tunnel, he added.

The BTRC receives over 20 requests every month from different areas for the installation of towers while about 5 to 7 requests for their removal as people fear the radio waves, he said.

"We keep trying and the ice is starting to break. We believe we will be able to expand the network in the hard-to-reach areas," he said.

"Every year we relocate a good number of towers due to the unfounded apprehensions," Mohammed Shahedul Alam, Robi's chief corporate and regulatory officer.

Operators combinedly had to dismantle about 200 towers till date centring the apprehensions, according to the operators.

Telecom regulators have long been conducting surveys throughout the country and found that the radiation level is far lower than the permissible limit of EMF exposure.

As per the standard of the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), International Telecommunication Union and World Health Organisation, the permissible limit of EMF exposure is 2.106 milliwatts per meter square (mW/m2).

The BTRC conducted a field survey in 30 spots in 12 areas of Dhaka from November 2022 and January this year. The survey found the EMF radiation emitted by cell towers of mobile operators to be far below the limit.

The highest amount of radiation was found in Malibagh Chowdhurypara and nearby. However, the EMF emission levels from towers in that area were one-twentieth of the permissible limit set by the ICNIRP.

Not only the masses, authorities running government projects never incorporate the issue of telecommunication network alongside utility services in their planning, said AKM Al-Amin, head of network services at Grameenphone.

Only in Dhaka city alone, Grameenphone needs to install 300 more towers, Robi 100 and Banglalink 62 for delivering better services. But they said they were not getting the nod neither from government entities nor private ones.

"Everyone wants a good network but most people don't want towers in their places," said Al-Amin.

"This problem is increasing day by day. We want government infrastructure and strategic project designs to include a plan to deploy mobile networks," he added.