{"id":16114,"date":"2019-12-05T17:14:16","date_gmt":"2019-12-06T00:14:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=16114"},"modified":"2019-12-06T02:04:14","modified_gmt":"2019-12-06T09:04:14","slug":"richmond-residents-voice-5g-antenna-health-fears","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=16114","title":{"rendered":"Richmond residents voice 5G Antenna health fears"},"content":{"rendered":"

Homeowner told new antenna could be used for the upcoming fast-speed connection<\/span><\/h4>\n
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Alan Campbell \u00a0– Richmond News – DECEMBER 2, 2019 04:53 PM<\/span><\/div>\n
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Stephen Shi (left) and AJ Singh are concerned about the installation of a Telus antenna outside of their homes in south-west Richmond. Alan Campbell photo<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Richmond residents have expressed health fears over upcoming 5G technology after the appearance of a communications antenna right outside their homes.<\/span><\/p>\n

AJ Singh and Stephen Shi spotted the equipment a few weeks ago, mounted about 25 feet up the pole and a few feet from their driveways in south-west Richmond.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Not knowing what it was for and concerned about the health of his family, Singh \u2013 who\u2019s building a detached home on the corner of Wellmond and Trumond roads – called the number on the antenna.<\/span><\/p>\n

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After hearing a Telus prompt, Singh spoke with a representative, who explained that the antenna in question was being used for the lower frequency 4G.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut he told me it was going to be used for 5G in the future,\u201d Singh told the Richmond News from underneath the antenna.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI understand there is no 5G yet. But would anyone want this thing so close to their house, not knowing what it is?<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn terms of what I\u2019ve learned online, they give out an unsafe level of radiation. My daughter\u2019s bedroom is going to be right there. That\u2019s too close. She\u2019s two years old.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThey did this with no knowledge or consent; they should have told me it was going up.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Shi, who has lived on the street for 10 years, said the proximity of the antenna is \u201cvery much a health concern.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHow much radiation is coming from it? We\u2019ve got enough radiation already from smart meters, water meters etc. They done it very sneakily.<\/span><\/p>\n

I saw them changing the pole and chatted with them. They didn\u2019t mention anything about this.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Several citizen-led organizations have sprung up over the last few years, citing health fears over 5G technology, which is expected to be rolled out in Canada next year.<\/span><\/p>\n

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The Telus antenna outside of a home in south-west Richmond, which is causing concern for residents. \u00a0Photo by Alan Campbell<\/strong><\/em><\/div>\n
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Although it\u2019s being lauded for its ability to communicate larger amounts of information and much faster than its predecessor, the higher radio frequencies 5G uses aren\u2019t able to travel as far as the current 4G wavelengths.<\/span><\/p>\n

This means 5G will require an enormous expansion of current cell tower infrastructure in order to function as intended.<\/span><\/p>\n

And some countries in Europe have stalled on bringing in 5G until more research is carried out on potential health risks.<\/span><\/p>\n

When asked by the News if the antenna could be used for 5G technology when it\u2019s rolled out, a Telus spokesperson didn\u2019t comment.<\/span><\/p>\n

However they did say that the antenna was a 4G small cell, \u201cwhich improves coverage in areas where we are seeing increased traffic and capacity, and helps us stay ahead of the demand for wireless service.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The spokesperson said the equipment was \u201clow-powered\u201d complies with the federal \u201cSafety Code 6,\u201d which regulates radio frequency emissions across Canada.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cThese sites emit a very, very low signal, oftentimes hundreds of times below what Safety Code 6 and Health Canada deem safe,\u201d added the spokesperson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Singh had also contacted the City of Richmond to see if permission had been sought to install the antenna.<\/span><\/p>\n

A spokesperson for the city told the News that the unit in question was, indeed, a Telus 4G LTE small cell.<\/span><\/p>\n

However, he added that telecommunications are federally regulated and the equipment is \u201cexempt from the federal government\u2019s antenna siting and approval process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cUnder the City\u2019s Telecommunications Antenna Consultation and Siting Protocol Policy, consultation is also not required as the existing BC Hydro\/TELUS pole is not a standalone telecom tower and is less than 15 metres (49.2 feet) in height.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The city cited Vancouver Coastal Health data related to the impact of cellular towers, which concluded that \u201cradiation from cellular base stations is too low to cause adverse health effects.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

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https:\/\/www.richmond-news.com\/news\/richmond-residents-voice-5g-antenna-health-fears-1.24025552<\/a><\/p>\n

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Homeowner told new antenna could be used for the upcoming fast-speed connection Alan Campbell \u00a0– Richmond News – DECEMBER 2, 2019 04:53 PM Stephen Shi (left) and AJ Singh are concerned about the installation of a Telus antenna outside of their homes in south-west Richmond. Alan Campbell photo \u00a0 Richmond residents have expressed health fears […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[345,346,357,17,103,368,492,45,426,139],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-16114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-4g","category-5g","category-5g-antenna","category-bc","category-canada","category-enode","category-gnode","category-ricmond","category-small-cell","category-telus"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16114","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=16114"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16114\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":16130,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/16114\/revisions\/16130"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=16114"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=16114"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=16114"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}