Keen to address the concerns arising out of fears over electromagnetic frequency (EMF) exposure due to installation of base stations receivers (mobile phone towers), the government has decided to launch a National EMF portal, which will provide all the relevant data in this regard along with the location of BTS within a certain locality.
It is learnt that beta testing of the portal has begun in Punjab, Haryana, Maharashtra and Mumbai. A national roll out is expected in nine months. An EMF portal aims at providing the reader with information about EMF and its effects on humans, backed by scientific studies. A similar platform is already available in Europe.
The Indian telecom sector has made rapid strides over the last 20 years, and majority of the country’s phone connections are now based on mobile telephony. However, this form of connectivity has led to proliferation of cell phone towers across the country and its effect on human beings due to radiation has raised much apprehension. It is now being feared that shortage of towers may hinder India’s overall progress. Mobile phone service providers have been facing problems regarding locating their towers, atop of which the receivers are perched. “There is increased hesitancy on getting leases for the towers or renewing them,” Rajan Matthews Director General of Cell Phone Operators Association of India said here on Monday.
Although the government has issued guidelines in this regard to state governments on safety norms and procedures to be followed for setting up towers, people are still hesitant about hiring out their roof tops for locating the BTS. He said that while five lakh towers were set up between 2007 and 2010, an incremental one lakh was needed annually for reaching 3G connectivity to the block level. “Average addition was only one third of the requirement”, he said, adding that six lakh more towers were needed to take the date connections to 4G levels.
