Removing misconceptions: Emissions from mobile towers not harmful, says PTA

Survey reveals power level of radio waves much below danger limits.

KARACHI: The emission level of radio waves from mobile towers is well below danger limits and does not have any harmful effects on human health, according to a joint survey conducted by the Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) and Frequency Allocation Board (FAB), a statement released by the PTA said on Tuesday.

The telecom regulator and FAB recently undertook an extensive survey in major cities of the country including Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) to check the emission-of-power level from transmitters and receivers of the Base Transceiver Stations (BTSs), also known as mobile towers.

The results revealed that power level of radio waves of all BTSs that were surveyed was much below prescribed danger limits, the statement read.

The results were in line with the policy directives of the Ministry of Information Technology and Telecom, World Health Organisation (WHO) and International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) guidelines, it said.

Giving details, the statement said that the survey was carried out with the help of special equipment in seven cities across the country including Lahore, Karachi, Muzaffarabad, Peshawar, Quetta, Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

So far, the PTA has conducted four nationwide surveys since 2009. The results of all these surveys cleared the misconception regarding hazardous effects of the towers and proved them incorrect, the statement said.

The towers have been installed and are working within the specified parameters defined by the regulator as well as the international bodies concerning the issue, it added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 4^th, 2015.

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