Despite all the protests from campaigners and scientists alike, 5G wireless network technology is arriving. Companies like T-Mobile are busy hooking up the United States, while in Britain, Three, EE and Vodaphone have launched 5G, and the plan is for there to be blanket coverage by 2022.
Despite that soothing name “5G,” which stands for “fifth generation” wireless technology, as though it’s a subtle improvement on our existing technology, this is not a simple next stage.
In the words of Dr Joseph Mercola, author of our cover story this month (page 52), who is launching a forthcoming book about it (EMF*D), “The difference between 4G and 5G is the equivalent of the difference between a mountain stream of EMF exposure and a vast ocean of it.”
True 5G is completely different from the current electromagnetic frequencies used to power up 3G and 4G networks. Current technology makes use of radio waves that are 6 GHz or lower. Planned 5G will employ far higher bandwidths of between 24 and 28 GHz, and eventually 30 GHz, too.
These frequencies are far shorter than the ones used now—and they’re measured in millimeters, rather than the centimeters of our existing technology. These millimeter-wave (MMW) frequencies, where radio waves are less than 10 mm, have far more bandwidth than those used for current technology, so they can carry a great deal more information, enabling data to be transmitted far more quickly, in larger amounts and with shorter waiting times than currently.
What this means, of course, is that hundreds of thousands of smart phones and smart meters in any particular geographical area will be able to transmit and receive data at the same time with no lag time.
The problem is that these short waves, which are easily blocked by walls, buildings, trees, and even rain or humidity, require far more antennas than are currently used to provide reliable and unbroken service. “Not just a few more,” says Mercola, “but literally billions of additional antennas compared to the 300,000 cellular towers that exist today.”
He estimates that instead of spacing cell towers a few miles apart, as we do now, we’ll need small cell stations around every 300 feet—on top of lampposts, utility poles and buildings—to offer adequate coverage for every three to 10 houses. And each small cell could hold about 100 antennas, compared to the 12 or so antennas of existing cell towers.
These new antennas will use 4G transmitters to locate mobile devices in the area and 5G antennas to transmit data at high speed, which is why the idea is so seductive.
A movie that takes you 10 minutes to download now will take a second with 5G. The new technology will enable the fabled “Internet of Things,” so that smart appliances in the home, in hospitals, the street and at work can monitor themselves and report on their need for new supplies.
Mercola quotes FCC Chairman Tom Wheeler stating that “if something can be connected, it will be connected in the 5G world,” everything “from pill bottles to plant waterers.”
What this means, of course, is that small cell masts will be erected near or outside your home, your office and your children’s schools—even in outer space, with some 50,000 satellites beaming back to Earth. And this new technology doesn’t replace the vast web of radiation you are already exposed to; it just adds to it.
Although the radiation isn’t constant with 5G, as it is with 4G, when a mobile device initiates contact (as it does when you need to make a phone call) that signal will be powerful and highly focused. Even if you aren’t making a call or accessing material on your computer, your smart phone—even your light bulbs—may be hooked into the system.
The health implications of this giant uncontrolled experiment, which has scientists as well as the public worried, are unquestionable. Studies on animals (which may not apply to humans) show that MMW waves cause eye problems such cataracts, heart rate changes, alterations in the function of cellular membranes, suppression of immune function and much more.
Luckily, Mercola suggests plenty of simple methods and devices to help you minimize your exposure to this EMF soup, particularly once 5G is in play. Using plug-in modems and routers, turning your phone to airplane mode, switching to air-tube earphones and purchasing Faraday devices for your phone and smart meter can all go a long way to keeping you safe.
The Internet of Things will create an extraordinary technological revolution. But we humans need to spend time making sure that it’s not at our expense—and the expense of our entire living world.
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