No harmful radiation from mobile network towers

The Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) and various mobile operators yesterday unequivocally refuted claims that cell towers emit harmful radiation.

"The permissible amount of radiation exposure from mobile network tower is below both international and BTRC standards," said Md Shahidul Alam, director general of spectrum management at BTRC, during a discussion jointly organised by the BTRC and Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB) at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon hotel in Dhaka.

The cell towers do not emit radiation of more than one watt per square meter in any area, said Shamsuzzoha, deputy director of BTRC's engineering and operations division.

Only two towers are special cases as high-rise buildings have been developed adjacent to the cell sites. "So the antennas need to be redesigned."

The levels of radiation emitted by cell towers is well below the permissible limit set by the International Commission for Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) and World Health Organisation. Therefore, it does not pose any human or environmental threat, according to experts.

Up to 2.106 watts per square metre is acceptable but the BTRC found that currently there are just two sites emitting radiation above one watt per square metre, the ICNIRP said.

The BTRC conducted surveys to find out how much radiation is present in 70 random cell sites at six different divisions.

The study found the highest amount of radiation was emitted by a single tower is in Mohammadpur, where they recorded 1.591 watts per square metre.

A BTRC technical survey team, led by Shamsuzzoha, also conducted studies all over Dhaka, Chattogram, Khulna, Sundarbans, Feni, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Rangpur and Jamalpur.

So far, radiation higher than standard limits have not been reported. The only notable case was in Mirpur's sector-6 area, where 1.025 watts per square metre of radiation was found.

Reducing the number of telecom towers is not the solution.

Instead, people should understand that if there are more towers, radiation will actually decrease. If a tower is placed far away from those using it, then the tower emits more radiation to provide a better output for customers, Shamsuzzoha said.

"Sometimes people complain that their mobile phones frequently heat up. In our observation, we found that this is caused by electrical heat, not radiation," said Syed M Samshur Rahman, executive vice-president of Robi.

Over the years, Robi has run about a thousand surveys to find out if the rumours are true. But harmful radiation was not reported in even a single case, he added.

Like cell towers and handsets, a wide range of household products such as microwaves, televisions and WiFi routers emit radiation but are in no way harmful, said SM Farhad, secretary general of AMTOB.

Without wireless technology, it is quite impossible to get the best services nowadays, said Satya Prasad Majumder, an electrical and electronic engineering (EEE) professor of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET).

Hospitals also use a lot of wireless technology, which give off radiation. Since they are within the permissible limit, they are not considered harmful.

"It is very satisfying that the BTRC did not find any excessive amount of radiation coming off any of the towers. But still, the rumour has already made the rounds -- this needs to be overcome."

The telecom regulator needs to continue its surveys and take the appropriate steps to eliminate the public's misconception.

This can only be done by continuously publishing independent surveys related to cell tower radiation, Majumder added.

"Radiation is found in all forms of technology and there will be no communication services or electricity for that matter if everyone wants a radiation-free environment," said Md Aminul Hasan, BTRC's commissioner of spectrum management.

He also criticised the 'completely baseless rumours' before going on to say that a report on the matter will be filed soon as per a High Court directive.

"In my 35 years of experience in the telecom business, right from the beginning I have heard about radiation threats from cell towers. So far though, not one survey or document from any acceptable organisation has proven as much."

The industry will require even more cell sites when 5G services arrive. Therefore, if technological progress is halted due to irrational fears, the country will fall far behind, he added.

Nazmul Hasan, marketing director of Huawei, and other senior executives of various mobile operators also spoke on the occasion.