Electromagnetic emissions from 4G and 5G base stations pose only minimal health risks, as they are far below the standards stipulated by the Environmental Protection Administration (EPA) and the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP), the National Communications Commission (NCC) said yesterday.
Since the auction of 5G licenses two years ago, more than 35,000 5G base stations have been built across the nation, covering 94 percent of the population, NCC Commissioner Wang Cheng-chia (王正嘉) told a news conference.
However, some people are still worried about potential health risks, Wang said.
Photo: EPA-EFE
Some base stations had been removed after protests by local residents, only to be reinstalled after the residents realized they could not receive phone signals, Wang said.
To allay public concern, the NCC tasked National Yunlin University of Science and Technology with conducting a study of electromagnetic emissions by 4G and 5G base stations, he said.
The study involved 34 sites in the north, south and east of Taiwan, as well as the outlying islands, that had 4G and 5G installations, said Kuo Wen-chung (郭文中), a professor of computer science and information engineering at the university.
“The sites were chosen because they accommodate devices and antennas installed by a majority of telecoms, and the results we obtained from the sites would best represent all base stations,” he said.
Researchers measured non-ionizing electromagnetic radiation (NIEA) based on the rules stipulated by the EPA, Kuo said.
“We found that the highest NIEA value detected was only about 0.039 percent of the reference values stipulated by the ICNIRP and the EPA, which are close to those of European countries and the US. The average of the highest values detected was 0.0125 percent of the reference values,” Kuo said.
The results show that a base station is even safer than a microwave oven and an electric razor, he said.
The commission said that 50,000 microcell stations are to be installed on utility poles and traffic lights to further boost 5G coverage.
Although the NCC has been running an awareness campaign for more than 10 years, it has not been particularly successful in assuaging public fears. Aside from public protests, the commission has only managed to secure 685 government properties on which to install base stations from 2014 to last year.
WANG RELEASED: A police investigation showed that an organized crime group allegedly taught their clients how to pretend to be sick during medical exams Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and 11 others were released on bail yesterday, after being questioned for allegedly dodging compulsory military service or forging documents to help others avoid serving. Wang, 33, was catapulted into stardom for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代). Lately, he has been focusing on developing his entertainment career in China. The New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office last month began investigating an organized crime group that is allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified documents. Police in New Taipei City Yonghe Precinct at the end of last month arrested the main suspect,
A cat named Mikan (蜜柑) has brought in revenue of more than NT$10 million (US$305,390) for the Kaohsiung MRT last year. Mikan, born on April 4, 2020, was a stray cat before being adopted by personnel of Kaohsiung MRT’s Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station. Mikan was named after a Japanese term for mandarin orange due to his color and because he looks like an orange when curled up. He was named “station master” of Ciaotou Sugar Refinery Station in September 2020, and has since become famous. With Kaohsiung MRT’s branding, along with the release of a set of cultural and creative products, station master Mikan
LITTORAL REGIMENTS: The US Marine Corps is transitioning to an ‘island hopping’ strategy to counterattack Beijing’s area denial strategy The US Marine Corps (USMC) has introduced new anti-drone systems to bolster air defense in the Pacific island chain amid growing Chinese military influence in the region, The Telegraph reported on Sunday. The new Marine Air Defense Integrated System (MADIS) Mk 1 is being developed to counter “the growing menace of unmanned aerial systems,” it cited the Marine Corps as saying. China has constructed a powerful defense mechanism in the Pacific Ocean west of the first island chain by deploying weapons such as rockets, submarines and anti-ship missiles — which is part of its anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) strategy against adversaries — the
Eleven people, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸), were taken into custody today for questioning regarding the evasion of compulsory military service and document forgery, the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office said. Eight of the people, including Wang, are suspected of evading military service, while three are suspected of forging medical documents to assist them, the report said. They are all being questioned by police and would later be transferred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation. Three men surnamed Lee (李), Chang (張) and Lin (林) are suspected of improperly assisting conscripts in changing their military classification from “stand-by
RSS