The Swiss Federal Council has decided to proceed with the expansion of 5G networks, despite concerns among part of the population and at some cantonal governments. It said that the fifth generation of mobile communications plays an important role in continuing the process of digitization. The Federal Council based its decision on the report of the “Mobile Communications and Radiation” working group, which assessed the expansion of 5G and its impact on health. The report said that the consequences on health from radio frequencies under the limits established in the regulation on protection against non-ionising radiation (NISV) have not been consistently proven.
The Federal Council will put in place the six measures suggested in the report to expand mobile networks, including a simplified implementation of the NISV, further development of techniques to monitor the effects of exposure to radiation on health, and improving information to the population about mobile radiation. The Federal Council wants to maintain the limit to protect the population from non-ionizing radiation, but the working group was unable to agree on a recommendation on this point. The Federal Department of the Environment, Transport, Energy and Communications (DETEC) will develop guidelines for the new adaptive antennas, which send signals in the direction of the user, following measurements to test the impact of the radiation on the population. Until then, adaptive antennas must be considered as conventional antennas, the Council said.
