As theories, myths swirl on 5G, so are scientific facts
Correspondent | Tuesday April 21, 2020 11:44
The technology innovation, which is heralded as the great hope for the ICT industry has suddenly been imbued in so many conspiracy theories. The following are the trendiest theories currently:
(1) 5G might suppress the immune system
(2) Viruses can communicate through radio waves.
(3) 5G has accelerated the spread of coronavirus, there are these and many more.
Amidst this growing conversation, theories and myths have cast a climate of fear on many people. For instance, there have been concerns that 5G uses a higher frequency of radio waves compared to older generations, thus posing a risk to both the environment and human beings.
On the other hand, there is a telling argument that has come up from experts against that claim. The frequency of that wireless technology is within recommended thresholds set by international guidelines. The recommended guidelines can be as high as 300 GHz and the maximum for 5G will probably only be in the 10s of GHz. This is according to the Public Health Act of England.
The actual idea behind deploying 5G is for the ICT industry to have remarkably fast-paced and indestructible internet speed for users. It enables signal carriers to transfer data at a breakneck speed and users to download huge files of any kind faster than before.
It also means easier conveyance of great amounts of information for carriers and alleviated network jamming. The other assurance pegged to it is that consumers will consistently get strong faster connections. Strong internet connectivity has been at the centre of so many developments in the advanced world; from self-driven cars, automated robots, remote machinery control to surveillance.
Contrary to assertions that that 5G leads to the spread of coronavirus, research has revealed that 5G could be useful even in the fight against coronavirus. In fact, 5G is the secret behind countries like China containing the pandemic quicker than any other nation.
In China’s health system for instance, 5G has promoted collaboration by enabling connectivity, maintaining effective communication among hospitals. It has also enabled medical data and reference sharing between hospitals and scientific research institutions, especially in the rapid increases in data volume and mounting demand for remote and HD-video based treatment scenario.
It is not surprising that some authorities that have come to appreciate 5G have been quick to dismiss claims that it is a major contributor to the spread of coronavirus. Perhaps it is the more reason why Full Facts, the UK Independent Fact Checking Charity organisation, published a report debunking some myths and giving a clear position of their own findings.
“As we’ve written about before, there is no evidence that 5G is harmful to humans. 5G is the next generation of wireless network technology, following on from 4G. Like 4G, 3G and 2G before it, 5G mobile data is transmitted over radio waves – a small part of the whole electromagnetic spectrum (which includes microwaves, visible light and X-rays),” the report read in part.
The other fact is that radio waves are non-ionising and that means that they are not capable of causing harm to the DNA inside cells as long as safety limits are observed, and that has been a benchmark for all 5G vendors. Obviously that explanation would suffice to put that speculation to rest.
In this social media culture where more often than not speculations spreads faster than the truth, you better take some information with a pinch of salt until some facts are closely checked. Many theories have been mere falsehoods, and it is not surprising that YouTube moved swiftly to take down content linking 5G to coronavirus.
The Google-owned streaming giant announced that it has removed all videos falsely linking use of wireless communication technology to the spread of coronavirus since they violate YouTube policy and could misinform users in harmful ways.
On assertions that a virus can communicate through radio waves, the fact is that the coronavirus is not something akin to a computer virus. Even from a layman’s point of view, wireless airwaves cannot transmit a virus into a human body and there is no correlation between the two and there is certainly no reason to believe that.
Technology is ever evolving in order to adapt to current trends and demands. For instance, at some point a relatively never known phenomenon called 2G made its debut on global ICT innovations. Thereafter, there was an evolution to 2.5G, 3G, 3.5G, 4G, 4.5G and now 5G.
Despite protests and theories swirling in some parts of the world, 5G’s capabilities and its burgeoning fame is currently on the lips of every techno-savvy consumer on the other hand. From the glass half-full point of view, whatever else can be said about 5G is that after years of research, inventions and envisioning is that the world has found what it has been looking for; the most trending technological solution to drive ICT’s for the next decade or so.
OMPHILE MASENDU*
*Masendu is Public Relations Manager at Huawei Technologies Botswana.
https://www2.deloitte.com/cn/en/pages/technology-media-and-telecommunications/articles/tmt-5g-ict-white-paper.html.
https://fullfact.org/online/wuhan-5g-coronavirus/
https://fortune.com/2020/04/07/5g-coronavirus-health-cancer-radiation-studies-safely-use-cellphone/