I Love Windsor Community News

Sharing the latest Windsor news stories about
community, events and the people since 2009

i love windsor est 23 nov 2009

Impact of 5G on Windsor & Eton

windsor castle

I had a meeting this week with Paul James, Head of Public Affairs and Joe McMann, Senior Communications Manager at Telefónica UK Limited.

While the world gets excited about downloading movies faster, there are lots of people concerned about the potential impact of 5G and the electro-magnetic fields it creates potentially having harmful effects.

the value of 5g for cities and communities O2

O2 have recently launched their Smart Cities Report – The Value of 5G for Cities & Communities download your copy.

Paul said that, “The health effects of 5G are no different to 4G, 3G, 2G…” but I guess we don’t really know until it is actually in place and the effects are being felt by people.

You are not allowed to test 5G on humans directly, as guinea pigs. The International Commission on Non-Ironizing Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) is the ruling body, on an international basis. If they say it is safe then it is.

the value of 5g for cities and communities O2
Healthcare: In years to come we may not need to visit the Doctors surgery. The Smart Cities research shows that the NHS could benefit from 5G being able to free-up over 1million GP hours through the use of video conferencing and real-time remote monitoring, helping to diagnose problems straight away. (Earlier this year in China a surgeon performed the world’s first remote operation using 5G. The doctor was able to control robotic arms in a remote location 3000 km away. The patient, suffering from Parkinson’s disease, had a deep brain stimulation implant inserted into their brain.)

I asked about phone masts. They will be using mostly existing ones. I said that my assumption was that telcos could just build masts as they felt the need. Paul advised, “They have to get planning permission for a new mast and that can take 12 months from demand being identified. There is a 56 day process with councils where the public have the right to say no. The council can’t refuse it on health grounds as detailed by ICNIRP.org”

who emf mobile phones
World Health Organisation’s website on EMF was last updated in Oct 2014 saying they would be reporting back in 2016.

Paul said he’d seen video of 5G helping someone with Parkinson’s with an electrode attached to the brain receiving data at a the required speed that reduced the shakes, allowing the patient to drink a glass of water without spilling it. I said marijuana has been seen to have similar effect and bees prefer it! We laughed, well I did, I think he did.

I am sure there are millions of technological benefits to 5G but people need to be around to place an order…

the value of 5g for cities and communities O2
Manufacturing: O2 is part of the Worcestershire Local Enterprise Partnership consortium working with Mazak (a company that specialises in advanced machine-tooling) where tests have been conducted using mixed and augmented reality headsets to improve efficiency of the front-line field workers and maintenance staff. Thanks to 5G, field workers will now be able to share live HD video with a specialist in another location and receive instructions via augmented reality in real-time which will significantly reduce repair time.

“Conspiracy theory” is a phrase that has been weaponized by the media to put people off standing up and being counted but there can be a tendency for the naysayers who just want to moan about anything and everything to mucky the ground for intelligent scientific folk to get their thoughts across.

Personally I want to hear from all intelligent sources, those sponsored by the telcos and those who are not. I can then listen to 20 presentations by each, allow for bias and form my opinion based on an informed choice.

the value of 5g for cities and communities O2
Cities and households: The research also highlighted that UK councils could regain almost £3 billion annually thanks to the introduction of smart lighting and smart refuse collection, as well as improved social care. Meanwhile, from a transport perspective, cities will increase their liveability through reductions in road congestion and rail delays.

Paul is happy to discuss the science and offered to review any of the scientific evidence I send over and offer their take on it. So that’s the next step…

I spend quite a bit of time enjoying videos on Gaia.com as they feel better than most of the offers on Netflix! This page offers some methods on shielding yourself from 5G. Might be hokum but hey, if you choose to listen then you can make an informed choice.

gaia protect yourself from emf

For transparency, my meeting was not an official RBWM meeting. It was as a concerned resident who happens to be a councillor.

The Council’s Constitution states: 1.3 Article 1 of the Constitution commits the Council to promote democratic local communities which are environmentally sustainable, prosperous and safe, providing equalities of opportunity and empowering all our communities.

It was the fact that I take this seriously driving my interest and desire to converse with relevant parties at Telefónica with the recent announcement that they are launching 5G in Windsor at the back end of this year.

I have tried to give the article balance by highlighting O2’s report regularly through the blog.

Thank you.

Jon

Jon Davey

One response to “Impact of 5G on Windsor & Eton”

  1. Adrian Short Avatar
    Adrian Short

    I’ve read the O2 report on the supposed benefits of 5G and it doesn’t merit the term “research”. It’s just an entirely speculative marketing pitch.

    Let’s take one example: the idea that according to O2, 5% of GP consultations in person would be replaced by teleconferencing, which would supposedly save the NHS £1.3 billion per year by 2025 (presumably in 2018 money).

    Two questions:

    – Where does the 5% figure come from?
    – Where does the £1.3 billion figure come from?

    On page 7 of the document, it says: “5G will free up
    1.1 million hours for GPs by facilitating telehealth video conferencing and real-time health monitoring”

    But there’s no reference whatsoever to where those figures come from. On page 16 in the Methodology section it says: “Replacing just 5% of GP visits with telehealth services. Saving: £1.3 billion.” Again, no further reference to any genuine research that indicates that 5% of GP visits would or would likely to be replaced by “telehealth services”.

    The 5% figure appears to be entirely speculative. Could you replace 1 in 20 GP visits with teleconferencing? Perhaps. But without any research done by people who understand primary care and exactly which visits could be just as effectively done by that method, we’re none the wiser. And how does the patient know in advance whether their consultation is suitable for teleconferencing without consulting the doctor first?

    And it’s very hard to see what 5G has got to do with it. We can already teleconference over wifi/broadband. Are O2 suggesting that people will be teleconferencing with their GPs while sitting on a bus or walking down the street? And if a GP can do a consultation remotely, surely a plain old phone call would be adequate in most cases. People can phone their GPs right now using the magic of 3G/4G mobile technology or even a landline. At the GP’s end they’ll be using a landline anyway. The GP is sitting in their surgery while they work, not on a bus.

    The cost savings appear to be speculative too. Which bit of teleconferencing saves a GP time or money? If 1 in 20 consultations are done remotely (over 5G or any other method), the GP is still spending just as much time on it as if they had the patient present in person. And they still need to maintain their premises with all the associated costs. So how is any significant – or any – money saved at all?

    The whole document makes similar, entirely unsourced claims. And yet by the end we end up with a huge saving of billions per year which supposedly justifies the whole 5G scheme.

    If any specialist researchers who understand transport, energy, healthcare or local government have actually done some credible and public research on the potential impact of 5G, why doesn’t O2 reference them?

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Discover more from I Love Windsor Community News

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading