5G THIS, 5G THAT, HOW SAFE IS IT?

INTRODUCTION 

My mum called me yesterday morning and asked me what the deal was with this “G5”? I thought she was talking about the world powers as in G20 but as she explained further, I figured she was referring to “5G”.  

Goodness Me! 

What does my non tech savvy mum know exactly? Well, it turned out that she is one of the many recipient of the videos and voice notes that has been circulating on different social media platforms about the ills of the 5G network. She was calling to confirm if all that are being alleged are true. 

For her sake and for the sake of all others who are just striving to understand all the information being thrown at them, I have decided to explain in the simplest way I possibly can about what 5G is and also answer some questions that you may have. 

5G IN SIMPLE TERMS 

The G in 5G stands for generation. 5G is the fifth generation of wireless technology which means the 5^th in line. If you’d recall our phone activities were largely analogue cellular which were developed as far back as the 1970s, after this came the 2G technologies,2.5,3G,4G and now we are talking about 5G. 

In layman terms, these wireless technology generations have seen us progress from making only voice calls to being able to use the call forwarding systems, get caller IDs , send SMS, then, sending MMS, downloading movies for hours to downloading hours long movies in few minutes. It has been a great progression and thinking about where we are now with 4G, it is okay to ask what exactly we need 5G for.

The thing about technology is there are always things that can be improved upon. Computers for instance went from being one gigantic and expensive machine that had to be housed alone in a separate room to being handy personal devices that we all are able to access and use.  Many solution driven thought leaders understand the need to proffer solutions just before the need arises.

OUR LIFE IS GOOD WHY DO WE NEED 5G? 

If you have been paying attention, you’d agree that video streaming and downloads have witnessed a boom in the recent years. Companies like TikTok,YouTube,Netflix and other major social media have billions of users accessing video content through their platform. 80% of the internet traffic share is video. The video traffic has become a key factor in the demand for a faster network. Video traffic is expected to grow from 56 exabytes used globally in 2017 to 240 exabytes globally in 2022. 

Currently, 4G offers maximum real-world download speeds up to around 100Mbps, theoretical maximum 4G speeds are significantly higher at 300Mbps.

According to International Telecommunication Union  guidelines, 5G network speeds should have a peak data rate of 20 Gb/s for the downlink and 10 Gb/s for the uplink. Latency in a 5G network could get as low as 4 milliseconds in a mobile scenario and can be as low as 1 millisecond in Ultra-Reliable Low Latency Communication scenarios.  

This literally means that 5G is unimaginably and incredibly faster than anything we ever experienced before. Not only will people be connected to each other but so will machines, automobiles, city infrastructure, public safety and more.  

With wearables and personal assistants such as Siri, Alexa or Google Assistant , who are able to help us through some of our everyday tasks by setting alarms, typing dictations or giving us reminders about life events, we have only scratched the surface of what IOT can bring.

A wired and interconnected personal and public life which can be made possible through 5G is said to be the future that man never thought they needed. It will guarantee more productivity as well as better health and all-round safety. 

COUNTRIES WITH 5G 

Many Countries of the world have partially deployed this network solution. Most prominent among them are: Qatar, China, South Korea, Japan, America just to name a few. 

GIVEN THE RECENT ALLEGATIONS, THE BIG QUESTION IS: ARE THE RUMOURS TRUE? IS 5G SO EVIL? 

Many proponents of 5G being evil allege that the radiations are so strong that it kills.

They allege that it weakens the human immune system and is capable of causing cancer. Most recently , it is said to be the reason behind the coronavirus epidemic.

Some 5G Masts are getting burned in London. Woody Harrelson, an Emmy Award winning actor shared some disturbing information about 5G and coronavirus on his Instagram page. In Nigeria, Dino Melaye, a well-known politician is one of the people championing the fight against 5G deployment with interesting tales about a global conspiracy on the role of 5G in the Coronavirus pandemic. Please read more on what we think about the link between 5G and Coronavirus here.

Is it Safe?

Network masts have always been the subject of debate dating back to the 90s. Consumers for years have been worried about the health effects of radiation in everything from microwaves to cellphones/network masts. A study in the United Kingdom for instance shows a 500percent increase in cellphone users and a 34percent increase in brain tumour detection which was largely based on better diagnostic practices.

Humans have interacted with radiations in different forms from microwaves,sun rays,lightning,xrays etc.

Radiation describes emission of energy from any source. It can be visible light or in the other forms I mentioned above.

Exposure to certain forms of radiation are capable of causing harm to body cells such as getting skin cancer from exposure to sun.

For better understanding, radiation can be organized by their levels of power: Bigger wavelengths with lower frequency are less powerful, while smaller wavelengths at higher frequencies are more powerful. This spectrum is divided into two distinct categories: ionizing and non-ionizing.

Ionizing radiation, includes ultraviolet rays, X-rays and gamma rays; these are the harmful forms. This is why X-rays are largely discouraged unless necessary. 5G falls under non-ionizing radiation; the same category for Wifi-Routers and security scanners.

It is also imperative to note that 4G has laid the foundational structure for 5G . For 5G to achieve its aim, there is need to install more antennas at lesser distances. This means that humans will encounter these rays more often and there is more possibility for everyday exposure which may be detrimental to human well-being.

Although, inconclusive, we can’t erase the fact that there may be a relationship between tumours and over exposure to radiation.

It is important to know that 5G is new grounds and it is still being defined.