What’s the Deal with 5G?

How Safe is 5G? With all new technology, fearmongering comes with the territory even if there are no facts to back it up. However, in this case, there may be some plausible concerns that have gone unheeded, such as the exposure of electromagnetic radiation which could harm the population and the environment. More than 180 scientists from 36 countries have appealed to the European Union in the hopes that the network will be abandoned. While many EU member states are either in the process, trialling or testing the roll out of 5G, Brussels has decided to halt the expansion of the network in car manufacturing in favour of tried-and-tested Wifi. Other countries, such as the Netherlands, have called for an independent investigation on the potential dangers. Yet it doesn’t stop there. Meteorologists have concerns of their own like the anxieties on whether the network can disrupt weather forecasts due to higher radio frequencies that are far more intense than 4G. According to some experts, the data could potentially be affected by 5G and provide wrong information that could lead to important weather forecasts being discarded.

Steeped in Controversy

While the discussion around 5G doesn’t seem like it will be slowing down anytime soon, not all of it is focused on the possible health risks. Recently, the United States President Donald Trump banned US tech companies from using Huawei, the 5G leader, due to national security. Allegations claimed that a Chinese vendor may obtain backdoors used by the Chinese government as surveillance against the United States. The United Kingdom has expressed its own fears with a new report from the Henry Jackson Society, a neoconservative foreign policy think tank, expressing that the Huawei had ‘long been accused of espionage.’ However, since this all coincides with the ongoing and heavily publicised trade war between America and China, following by the declaration from Trump pronouncing the US ‘…must win the race to 5G’, it is probably best to take this with a grain of salt. In the meantime, one thing that is certain is that, with faster technology, businesses and the general public can stand to benefit greatly. Should this new wave of modernisation be encouraged and equally regulated before launch or should we take a leap of faith? If you live in Vienna, London or Seoul, you may just find out first.]]>