The Ipswich streets with 5G base transmitters

Unsuspecting residents are having controversial 5G technology placed within metres of bedroom windows. Is your street on the list?

THE rollout of 5G mobile phone technology is booming across the country and Queensland is no different with the installation of at least 359 mini mobile phone transmitters this year.

Nationally, Optus will have 1200 sites by early next year, and Telstra is said to want to increase its coverage "fivefold''.

The two telecommunications companies have already installed 171 of the transmitters across Brisbane, with 71 on the Gold Coast, 24 near Toowoomba and eight in Ipswich.

The current locations across the city are:

• 62 Jones Rd Bellbird Park

• 467-473 Junction Rd Barellan Point

• Cnr Law St and Fox St Redbank

• Eric St Goodna

• 999 Addison Rd Camira

• 16 Mill St Goodna

• 120 Weeks St Moggill

• Springfield College Dr Springfield

The rollout is not without controversy however with questions being raised about the impact of the transmitters on human health and the environment.

5G emits radio waves, and in theory, radio waves at really high levels can produce friction in the water contained by the human body, raising temperature and provoking hypothetical damage, like the ones happening inside a microwave oven.

An opponent of 5G, radiation physicist Victor Leach of the Oceania Radiofrequency Scientific Advisory Association, called for more studies into the health impact of electromagnetic radiation.

"People don't want antennas outside their house and a few metres from their bedrooms,'' he said.

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) however insisted 5G was safe, adding that the technology will operate at lower levels than those currently used for varying applications in the community.

Dr Ken Karipidis, the assistant director of the assessment and advice section of the Radiation Health Services Branch at ARPANSA, said there is no established health effects from radio waves that are found in the environment at the power levels used in telecommunications, including 5G.

"With telecommunications, the exposure levels are extremely low," Dr Karapidis said.

That however didn't stop the European Commission headquarters of Brussels, in Belgium, and the Swiss capital of Geneva banning 5G technology this year.

The Brussels Environment Minister declared in April that "the people of Brussels are not guinea pigs''.
Currently the high-speed devices can be installed on power poles outside Australian homes without residents' approval.

And closer to home two Ipswich families said they would rather move house than chance it with a new mobile phone tower being erected in their neighbourhood.

Australian Communications Consumer Action Network chief executive Teresa Corbin said residents should have the right to reject the equipment.

"There's going to be a lot of these base stations and if one's installed within a few feet of someone's window, it shouldn't just happen automatically,'' she said.

Councils have also complained that the technology can be installed without planning approval, as they are deemed to be "low impact'' under the Telecommunications Act.

Australian Local Government Association president David O'Loughlin warned that a "proliferation'' of base stations would "clutter the streetscape''.

"Councils are seeking planning approvals to manage that proliferation.''

Originally published as The Ipswich streets with 5G base transmitters