Mobile operators are beginning to deploy the technology of 5G (fifth generation) networks promising faster data transfer, faster response times and massively improved device connectivity. But again, fear of the unknown is beginning to consume Hungarians.
5G networks operate in the 6 to 86 GHz frequency range, essentially the microwave band also known as “centimeter band” based on its wavelength. In urban areas, these wavelengths require more base stations, but that also means that individual stations will be able to use weaker signals.
While low levels of microwave radiation are not proven to be harmful, some healthcare foundations – mainly in but not restricted to the United States – warn that the effects of long-term exposure are as of yet unknown. Others point out that microwave technology has been around since the 1990s in the form of both point-to-point radio communication and more recently as WiFi routers. Typical domestic WiFi routers also operate in the microwave band.
Opponents of 5G most often cite a case that supposedly happened in the Hague, Netherlands last November when some 300 birds allegedly died during a test deployment of a 5G base station. That particular item – claiming healthy birds died of sudden heart failure – has since been thoroughly debunked as a hoax. The birds had most likely been poisoned.
But as with all hoaxes, it keeps making the rounds on social media fueling people’s fears.
