Is 5G the Future?
by Andrea Williams
Minesweeper, a now archaic computer game, used to be a favorite of mine. The game was on most computers and consists of a grid of squares with the goal of uncovering a given number of mines hidden under the squares; as you click, squares are eliminated and numbers appear as hints. The classic, yellow smiley face at the top of the grid morphs into a sad face with x’s over the eyes if one accidentally clicks on a “mine” and ends the game. I remember playing this game as a young child in the early 2000’s on my family’s computer, not understanding the strategy behind the game whatsoever, just purely guessing until I clicked on a bomb. Then I would start again.
The early 2000’s was a time when the now obsolete dial-up internet was alive and strong. I remember the chaotic, high pitched start-up sound when the computer was connecting to the internet. It was a several minute process accompanied with the soundtrack of screaming beeps and static, the end result being a computer with an internet connection and a temporarily disabled phone line (because it was actually calling the internet provider). That was the reason I was never allowed to use the internet as a kid and mindlessly played minesweeper instead- my parents wanted to be able to use our phones.
Fast forward 20 years. Dial up internet is obsolete and wireless devices rule over our culture. If you told young kids nowadays your phone used to not work while your computer was connected to the internet, they would laugh and look at you like you’re crazy. Wireless internet is everywhere. Smart phones and wireless technologies have almost become synonymous with the internet itself. “Do you guys have wifi?” is probably one of the most common questions in any customer service job. We entered this century with the early evolutionary forms of the internet we know, and rely on today. And evolution is constant.
The first wireless cell phones emerged on the market in 1983 from Motorola, they were roughly one foot long. Dial-up internet has been around since the 80’s but wasn’t commercially available to the public until 1992, becoming the first way people brought internet into their homes and lives on a mass scale. Dial-up lost relevancy in the mid-2000’s when broadband and wireless technologies became commercially available with increased internet speed. The first iPhone wasn’t introduced to the market until 2007- it had no app store, couldn’t record video, and was “painfully slow” with 2G wireless technology according to Buisness Insider.
Today in 2019 the next evolution is 5G, or fifth generation wireless technology. According to Verizon, 5G is the “fastest, most robust technologies the world has ever seen.” Verizon also breaks down the basics of the previous wireless technologies. 1G, or first generation, allowed for the creation of the first analog cell phones, 2G made text messaging and voicemails possible on cell phones, 3G made mobile web browsing, image sharing and GPS location-tracking possible on cell phones, and 4G technology made deep web functionality possible on mobile devices. With each new generation of wireless technology the internet speed got faster, the technology became more sophisticated, and the products more addictive for consumers.
Major network companies like AT&T, Verizon and Sprint all have current plans on deploying 5G antennas on already existing infrastructure, like telephone poles, buildings and 4G towers. AT&T is currently expanding 5G technology and wireless towers in San Francisco- and some residents are not happy about it. San Francisco Board of Supervisors meeting on October 22 lasted over 5 hours and featured 18 San Francisco residents voicing their concerns and frustration over the current push of 5G rollout in the city and called for actions to be made to preserve local control over the issue, not control by the telecommunication industry.
Even though people today are largely dependent on wireless devices, especially the youth, aren’t familiar with what wireless technologies actually are exactly. A common response to the simple question of what they think of the new 5G technology was ‘what’s that?’ or ‘it’s faster, right?’. The answer is yes, 5G is much faster than the current 4G. But to understand what 5G is and why some people across the country, not just in San Francisco, are against its large scale deployment across US cities. All types of wireless technology emits electromagnetic radiation or radiofrequency (RF) emissions. Wifi, cell phones, laptops, and all wireless antennas emit these emissions at varying rates. The topic about how these emissions affect our health and environment are and have been controversial since the beginning of wireless technology. Many people think the skeptics are just afraid of new technology and have no scientific basis for their claims that RF emissions cause cancer and other health effects.
The Federal Communication Commission (FCC) states that the research linking RF emissions with cancer are “non-conclusive”, though they admit that RF emissions are absorbed through the body, and that many countries d around the world have lower safety guidelines developed by the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection for “lower and upper frequency ranges and for localized exposure due to such devices as hand-held cellular telephones.”
The FCC’s Telecommunications Act of 1996 section 704 says that it “leaves in place the authority that local zoning authorities have over the placement of personal wireless facilities”- however local authorities are explicitly prohibited to deny wireless facility sites based on RF emissions, environmental impacts, and “prohibits any action that would ban altogether the construction, modification or placement of these kinds of facilities in a particular area.”
According to Patti and Doug Wood, these rules are solely for the financial benefit of wireless service providers and steals local government control away from the people. Patti Wood is the Executive Director of Grassroots Environmental Education and Doug Woods is the Associate Director of Grassroots Environmental Education. Their non-profit organization is based in New York and covers a wire array of public health issues with the goal of educating the public on important issues to bring about change. They work closely with environmental experts and leaders in the medicine and toxicology fields from Yale, Columbia, Harvard, Tufts, and other establishments.
“If we don’t have science, we don’t touch the subject,” Patti said, herself having a nursing and public health background from Delphi University. “Our mission statement is to provide the public with peer-reviewed, scientific research… the more people who get educated the better” she explains.
Patti explains that our bodies are not made to be bombarded with RF exposure 24 hours a day, everyday, like we are now. But 5G specifically is dangerous because it enters a different spectrum of microwaves. 5G emits shorter, more powerful, sub-millimeter waves that can penetrate the skin and sweat glands according to her. However, 5G has to be in close proximity to the device to work, unlike 3G and 4G technology which has bigger wave lengths and can emit signals for long distances. Because of this, much more antennas need to be deployed in a much smaller radius for 5G to work. And Since RF emissions become less strong the further you are from the antenna, 5G creates an environment where is is virtually impossible to escape the radiation even if you didn’t use a 5G device.
“It is non-essential things being sold to the public as ‘the future’… I’m not against technology, but there needs to be a safe way to use technology,” Patti explained.
Associate Director Doug Wood believes that wireless technology is being forced on the public when fiber-optic cable can process and send data just as fast as 5G and faster than current 4G, with no RF emissions.
“Everyone is saying that we can’t do it without wireless or 5G, but that is complete garbage,” Doug explained. He then brought up the Telecommunications Act Section 704.
