Radio Frequency (RF) Hazards

Pete Norris - 26 January 2010

I was recently contacted by a very nice gentleman who was moving from rural Cornwall to Marlow, Buckinghamshire. A quick yellow pages search for Telecoms in Marlow had led him to us and he gave us a call.

His concern was in regard to a microwave dish located just past the end of his new garden on the Marlow BT exchange as well as a couple of Mobile streetworks masts just down the road.

He was familiar with the Stewart Report but considered it to be out of date as it's now 10 years old and was looking for reassurance that the sector antennae on the mobile phone masts and the microwave dish at the end of his garden wouldn't pose him an RF risk.

It took quite a lot of explaining the various NPRB and ICNIRP safety standards to get this chap to relax and be comfortable that he was in no danger.

This made me realise that we, in the industry, take RF awareness for granted but to many consumers (especially those living in Mobile "not spots" as this gentlemen was) RF continues to be a source of concern. I think that we have an obligation to continue handling consumer concerns both reactively and proactively.

If you have concerns about RF safety you can check out MLL Telecom's white paper on RF safety. (all of the information in it is still correct.)...meanwhile our new neighbour can move into his house confident that he's not about to be cooked by a microwave located above his potting shed.

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