Directorate-General for Civil Aviation (DGAC) warned that 5G technology can interfere with critical aircraft instruments such as landing gear and altimeters. Because of this, they exhorted air travelers to turn off their mobile devices using 5G when onboard an airplane. According to the DGAC, 5G devices can interfere with data sent by altimeters that tell pilots their current altitude while in flight. An agency spokesperson said that using 5G devices mid-flight “could lead to risks of interference … potentially [resulting in] errors in altitude readings.”
Turning off mobile phones or placing them in airplane mode during takeoff and landing has been a requirement on many flights for a long time now. The measure aims to prevent earlier versions of mobile networks from interfering with aircraft communication and navigation equipment. But some flights have now permitted passengers to use mobile devices while in flight – and have even put up onboard masts for mobile phone calls.
Virgin Media mobile customers can now get access to ultra-fast 5G internet as the operator finally launches its network in more than 100 places across the UK.
The system piggybacks on the infrastructure built by Vodafone, as part of a growing partnership between the two companies.
More than three million Virgin mobile customers will now automatically be able to access 5G at no extra cost if they have a suitable plan and device.
New locations with Virgin-powered 5G include London, Birmingham, Belfast and Glasgow, and it goes live today.
EE was the first internet provider to go live with a 5G network in the UK in May 2019, soon followed by Vodafone. Now, O2, Three, Sky and Virgin also have 5G compatibility.
According to Professor John William Frank, an epidemiologist and physician at the
University of Edinburgh, we should “err on the side of caution” by delaying any further rollout of 5G networks, “pending more conclusive research” on its safety.
Frank made his argument in a peer-reviewed paper published in the
Journal of Epidemiology & Community Health.
5G doubts fueled by scientific uncertainty
5G technology has been hailed by governments, as well as certain vested interests, as transformative, promising economic and lifestyle benefits through greatly boosting wireless and mobile connectivity.
Compared to previous-generation technologies, 5G has a higher transmitter density, meaning that it needs more transmitter masts over a given distance. This exposes more people to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields at levels that, Frank argues, could potentially be harmful to human health.
Should health effects be studied before 5G rollouts continue?
By
The ongoing fifth-generation (5G) network rollouts should be stopped in the meantime, until more clinical studies and imperative research can be carried on the confirmed health effects being associated with the next-generation wireless standard, a notable health researcher has advised.
According to Professor John William Frank from the Usher Institute at the University of Edinburgh, the transmitter density required for 5G means that more people will be exposed to radiofrequency electromagnetic fields (RF-EMFs), and at levels that emerging evidence suggests, could cause “suspected adverse health effects.”
“A growing number of engineers, scientists, and doctors internationally [are] calling on governments to raise their safety standards for RF-EMFs, commission more and better research, and hold off on further increases in public exposure, pending clearer evidence of safety,” the professor wrote.
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