NCC to acquire software as concerns over radiation in telecoms rise

The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Wednesday said it is in the process of acquiring multi-functional software developed by the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) to calculate the cumulative radio frequency exposure levels in the vicinity of a transmitting base transceiver station (BTS).
This move, according to the commission, has become compelling due to concerns been expressed by stakeholders both locally and internationally that EMF (Electro-Magnetic Fields) been emitted by telecoms base stations poses significant health hazards to humans.
As at December 2013, there were about 29, 000 BTS for both GSM and CDMA service providers in Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy.
The telecoms industry will require about 80, 000 BTS to provide better communications service.
This is particularly worrisome as many health experts are of the view that human exposure to EMF has been associated with some health challenges such as cancers especially leukemia in children, infertility, neuro-behaviourial disorders, and alteration in cerebral blood flow, amongst others.
Speaking at the second West Africa Conference on EMF exposure and health held in Lagos, Wednesday, Eugene Ikemefuna Juwah, executive vice chairman, NCC, said the EMF estimator software contains the library of the radiation patterns of transmitting antennas for a wide range of radio-communication and broadcast services.
Juwah, who was represented by U.S Maska, executive commissioner, technical services, NCC, further noted that the software technology has proven to be very useful tool for administration.
Though the World Health Organisation (WHO) studies are yet to find any clear risk or health hazards associated with EMF based on current findings, Maska said, “As responsible regulators, we need to constantly be on top of the game by keeping the citizenry informed and reassured as information becomes available regarding any health risks associated with EMF, which needs to be properly considered and reported during the rollout of new technologies as they become available.”
The commissioner said the regulator will continually engage and monitor operators to ensure that they comply with international best practices during deployment of telecoms infrastructure such as base stations.
“As we work with operators and assure our people of their safety, citizens’ resistance to the establishment of BTS will diminish significantly.”
Global standards such as those published by ITU as a way to mitigate the potential risks in an environment where there is huge growth in deployment of wireless technology are useful guides as the NCC works in this regard.
ITU-T Study Group 5 is the world’s leading authority on EMF, and its Working Party 2 studies EMF issues under Question 7/5: “Human exposure to EMFs due to radio systems and mobile equipment”. The resulting international standards (ITU-T Recommendations) also provide high-level frameworks for the management of human exposure to EMFs emitted by telecoms equipment.
According to Maska, these standards also offer guidelines for the assessment of human exposure, based on existing ITU-T recommendations and standards produced by other standards development organisation.
To give this standard the necessary legal backing, Maska pointed out that the commission is working with the House of Representatives’ Committee on Science and Technology on the EMF Bill which is oriented in the WHO Model of Legislation and ICNIRP standard.
Speaking at the conference with theme, ‘EMF in a Highly Connected Society: Understanding the Myths and Realities’, Omobola Johnson, minister of communications technology, however, said mobile or cellular phones are now an integral part of national life.
“In many countries, over half of the population use mobile phones and the market is growing rapidly. Already, here in Nigeria as at September 2014 there are over 135 million active subscribers of both mobile and fixed wired/wireless lines, and this number will increase.”
Johnson, who was represented by Oluwole Edun, director, research, planning & statistics, Ministry of Communication Technology, said considering the large number of mobile phone users, it is imperative to investigate, understand and monitor any potential public health impact. “Mobile phones communicate by transmitting radio waves through a network of fixed antennas called base stations. Signals in the mobile telephony bands of the radio spectrum are non-ionizing radiation such as X-rays or gamma rays, can neither break chemical bonds nor cause ionization in the human body”, he added.
According to him, a large number of studies have been conducted over the last two decades to assess whether mobile phones pose a potential health risk. “To date, no adverse health effects have been established as being caused by mobile phone use”, Edun further added.