§  Mr. John McAuley, from Compliance Engineering Ireland

Mr. Shane Tiernan, Director of Services, welcomed Mr. John McAuley from Compliance Engineering International. CEI provide services to various international organisations and government bodies including COMREG. Services include Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC) compliance and pre-compliance testing. They are accredited to EN ISO/IEC 17025 and an accredited INAB member ensuring world-wide acceptance of their reports. They have Notified Body status for the EMC and Radio Equipment Directives – granted by ComReg. John McAuley is currently Chairman of the National Standard Authority of Ireland ElectroTechnical Committee which is responsible for the Irish support to IEC, CENELEC and ETSI.  IEC is the International Electrotechnical Commission who prepare and publish International Standards for all electrical, electronic and related technologies. CENELEC is the European committee for electrotechnical standardisation and ETSI is the European Telecommunications Standards Institute and the standardization body for the European telecommunications industry.

John McAuley outlined his presentation to the Members which covered the following:

§  Evolution of mobile phones

§  Radiofrequencies

§  700 MHz 5G has good range – good for rural areas (100 Mbps) (4G will provide about 10Mbps)

§  26 GHz 5G has poor range but high bandwidth (1 Gbps) and good capacity

§  To implement rural broadband using 26 GHz would require many new basestations

§  For rural areas 5G will be nothing new – the frequency ranges are already in use for 2G, 3G and 4G

§  In urban areas 26 GHz will require many small cells mounted on walls and poles

§  Most of the recent concern about health has been around 26 GHz which is “new”

§  International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP)

§  Irish government policy is to adopt ICNIRP

§  Basestation emissions are typically 100,000 times below ICNIRP limits

§  5G will be no different

§  5G – 700 MHz –vs – 26 GHz

o   700 MHz - signal penetrates body to 15mm. Gives good range for rural areas similar to 900 MHz which has been in use in Ireland since 1986

o   26 GHz - signal penetrates to 0.2mm - absorbed by skin. Very poor penetration into buildings. Very poor range, easily blocked by foliage

§  Exposure levels from 5G basestations will be thousands of times below the ICNIRP limits

§  As 26 GHz only penetrates to 0.2mm the allegations of harmful effect relate mostly to possible effects on the surface nervous system

§  There has been no evidence of low level harmful effects accepted by ICNIRP in spite of hundreds of millions having been spent on research

§  It is highly unlikely that the alleged surface effects of 26 GHz signals are going to be demonstrated to be harmful.

The Members thanked Mr. McAuley for his presentation and raised the following questions/observations:

§  Why do so many people and also the medical professionals still raise concerns?

§  Health concerns are the key issue, the depth of penetration of the skin, effects on the eyes, stress, damage to DNA and cancer

§  There should be public consultation regarding the installation of antennas, particularly where there may be health issues

§  5G should not be an excuse for the non-delivery of broadband in Ireland

§  Has a national risk assessment been carried out on the equipment and technologies used on the rollout of 5G by our own Government?

§  Where is it proven that 5G is safe?

§  Guidelines are inadequate to protect the people and the environment

§  The precautionary principle should over-ride anything else on this matter

§  At what frequency is Imagine rolling out broadband?

§  Concerns around the erection of masts in areas of high population density

§  What are the setback distances?

§  Broadband companies appear to have a free pass when it comes to planning permission

§  Mobile telephone reception has worsened in rural areas

§  Businesses and rural areas need broadband but it must be safe

§  Fibre broadband is the way to proceed

§  Because of the economics involved will we ever realistically see 5G at 26 GHz in rural Ireland

§  Is 4G currently being rolled out at 700MHz?

§  Is it possible to address the issue of bad coverage caused by mobile phone congestion by putting up more 4G masts without moving to a new technology in relation to mobile phone and as a corollary of that the rollout of broadband at a speed that is adequate? 

§  With regard to 26GHz 5G, is there anything to stop the ESB, which has an infrastructure all around rural Ireland with electricity poles and pylons, putting up basestations, without the need for planning permission, on the existing infrastructure that they have?

§  Is there any internationally respected peer reviewed study on 700 MHz as to the effects on microorganisms and biodiversity?

Mr. McAuley responded to the questions and observations raised by the Members.

Eugene Cummins, Chief Executive, thanked Mr. McAuley for his enlightening presentation and for dealing with the facts and not being on one side or the other.  Mr. Cummins stated that there was nothing to fear in Roscommon only everything to look forward to and he looked forward to the rollout of 700MHz 5G broadband.

In response to Cllr. Crosby’s request for clarity regarding planning requirements in relation to an installation in the village of Tarmonbarry, Eugene Cummins, Chief Executive, stated that the Council is not dealing with any unauthorised development in relation to masts but if there were any changes to that, Councillors will be informed.