{"id":17055,"date":"2020-02-12T22:42:49","date_gmt":"2020-02-13T05:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=17055"},"modified":"2020-02-12T22:45:12","modified_gmt":"2020-02-13T05:45:12","slug":"switzerland-halts-rollout-of-5g-over-health-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/?p=17055","title":{"rendered":"Switzerland halts rollout of 5G over health concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"
The country\u2019s environment agency has called time on the use of all new towers<\/div>\n
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Sam Jones in Zurich \u00a0Feb 12 2020<\/div>\n
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Print this page2 Switzerland, one of the world\u2019s leaders in the rollout of 5G mobile technology, has placed an indefinite moratorium on the use of its new network because of health concerns.\u00a0 The move comes as countries elsewhere around Europe race to upgrade their networks to 5G standards amid a furious rearguard diplomatic campaign by the US to stop them using Chinese technology provided by Huawei. Washington says the company, which is fundamental to most European networks\u2019 upgrade plans, presents a grave security risk. Switzerland is relatively advanced in Europe in adopting 5G. The wealthy alpine country has built more than 2,000 antennas to upgrade its network in the last year alone, and its telecoms providers have been promising their customers\u2019 imminent 5G coverage for most of the past year.<\/div>\n

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However, a letter sent by the Swiss environment agency, Bafu, to the country\u2019s cantonal governments at the end of January, has now in effect called time on the use of all new 5G towers, officials who have seen the letter told the Financial Times.\u00a0 The agency is responsible for providing the cantons with safety criteria against which telecoms operators\u2019 radiation emissions can be judged. Under Switzerland\u2019s highly federalised structure, telecoms infrastructure is monitored for compliance and licensed by cantonal authorities, but Bern is responsible for setting the framework. Bafu has said it cannot yet provide universal criteria without further testing of the impact of 5G radiation. The agency said it was \u201cnot aware of any standard worldwide\u201d that could be used to benchmark recommendations. \u201cTherefore Bafu will examine exposure through adaptive [5G] antennas in depth, if possible in real-world operational conditions. This work will take some time,\u201d it said. Without the criteria, cantons are left with little option but to\u00a0license 5G infrastructure according to existing guidelines on radiation exposure, which all but preclude the use of 5G except in a tiny minority of cases.\u00a0 Several cantons have already imposed their own voluntary moratoria because of uncertainty over health risks.<\/div>\n
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Swiss law on the effects of radiation from telecoms masts is broadly in line with that of European peers, but specifies the application of more stringent precautionary measures in certain cases. New 5G communications technology means individuals are exposed to more concentrated beams of non-ionising radiation, but for shorter periods. Bafu must determine which legal standards to apply to this. Swisscom, the country\u2019s largest mobile operator, said it understood \u201cthe fears that are often expressed about new technologies\u201d. \u201cThere is no evidence that antenna radiation within the limit values adversely affects human health,\u201d the company added, pointing out that 5G is run on frequencies similar to the current 4G standard, which has been subject to \u201cseveral thousand studies.\u201d The company said Switzerland\u2019s regulatory limits were \u201c10 times stricter than those recommended by the World Health Organization in places where people stay for longer periods of time\u201d.<\/div>\n
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Switzerland already has a notable anti-5G lobby, with recent protests against its rollout in Bern, Zurich and Geneva. The Swiss Medical Association has advised caution on 5G, arguing that the most stringent legal principles should be applied because of unanswered questions about the technology\u2019s potential to cause damage to the nervous system, or even cancers.\u00a0 Five\u00a0\u201cpopular initiatives\u201d \u2014 proposals for legally binding referendums on 5G use \u2014 are already in motion in Switzerland. Two have already been formalised and are in the process of collecting the 100,000 signatures needed to trigger nationwide votes that if successful will amend Switzerland\u2019s constitution. One will make telecoms companies legally liable for claims of bodily damage caused by radiation from masts unless they can prove otherwise. The other proposes strict and stringent limits on radiation emissions from masts and will give local residents veto power over all new constructions in their area.<\/div>\n
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https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/848c5b44-4d7a-11ea-95a0-43d18ec715f5<\/a><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The country\u2019s environment agency has called time on the use of all new towers Sam Jones in Zurich \u00a0Feb 12 2020   Print this page2 Switzerland, one of the world\u2019s leaders in the rollout of 5G mobile technology, has placed an indefinite moratorium on the use of its new network because of health concerns.\u00a0 The […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[346,357,700],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-17055","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-5g","category-5g-antenna","category-switzerland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17055","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=17055"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17055\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":17059,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/17055\/revisions\/17059"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=17055"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=17055"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emrabc.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=17055"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}