World-News

PETER WALSH
20 September 2006 11:47

Mobile phone mast campaigners today reacted with horror after it emerged vital information about the whereabouts of masts could be made secret.

Until now families have been able to find details about where masts are, who owns them and how powerful they are, thanks to a website called SiteFinder.

Run by telecommunications regulator Ofcom, the site was set up after the independent report by Sir William Stewart, who was probing whether there was a link between mobile phone masts and diseases such as cancers.

Although he found no link he called for a precautionary approach to siting masts near schools and homes while further research is carried out and the website became an essential source for people worried about masts near their homes.

But a ruling by privacy watchdog the Information Commissioner has placed the website's future in doubt - to the despair of people fighting for the truth about masts.

The Evening News, through our Put Masts on Hold campaign, has opposed the installation of mobile phone masts near homes and schools until it is proved they are safe.

Dr Ian Gibson, Norwich North MP and long-time supporter of our campaign, said he would be “violently opposed” to the collapse of the site.

“It's the only way we can get information about what they are up to,” he said. “I will be meeting the minister to have talks to try to prevent it.”

After an 18-month investigation the Information Commissioner last week ruled in favour of a request that all information used to compile the site be made available.

Currently the data is used by Ofcom to compile the website and let people know who owns masts within about 500 yards of their front door. Wider searches do not show who owns the masts.

The mobile phone companies fear if all information is made available it will allow competitors the chance to find “holes” in networks, giving them a competitive advantage, or allowing rivals to pitch for business in certain areas where they might get better coverage with another network.

The information is provided voluntarily by the five UK mobile networks, Airwave, and Network Rail, but the firms might now pull out of giving information - which would scupper the site.

“We're concerned by the decision as we believe it may have the effect of removing a source of important information from the public domain,” said an Ofcom spokesman. Ofcom has until October 9 to appeal.

Graham Barker, from Lloyd Road, Taverham, who has campaigned against a controversial Vodafone mast in Fakenham Road, said the facility needed to be kept available to families.

“It would be a shame if it's closed down,” he said. “The more information that is available the better in my opinion, anything that changes that is a retrograde step. Despite what the experts say the long term effects aren't really known.”

Jim Leathers, 73, who lives with his wife Eileen, 77, in the shadow of a mobile phone mast at Thurton near Loddon, said he would be worried if the site collapsed.

“It would be the wrong thing altogether and I don't agree with it,” he said. “I think it should be open knowledge where they are - when people move house or something like that they can check where there's a phone mast. That's useful information.”

In January last year the Evening News used the site to reveal how thousands of children were being taught within about 200 metres of a mobile phone mast.

Our survey found about 20pc of the Norwich area's 76 primary schools had phone masts or antennae within or close to that 200 metre range which experts had claimed could put youngsters at risk.

Are you fighting a mobile phone mast application in your area? Call Evening News reporter Peter Walsh on (01603) 772439 or email peter.walsh@archant.co.uk

Copyright © 2006 Archant Regional. All rights reserved.

http://tinyurl.com/zwsx9

RESIDENTS in Huntstown are up in arms again over the continued presence of mobile phone masts near a primary school in the area. Two heated public protests took place last week outside the Pinewood House commercial centre as residents vented their anger at the erection of a second mobile mast antenna at the site.

Pinewood House is in close proximity to the Sacred Heart Primary School and the residents fear that radiation from the phone masts could have potential health implications for their children.

Dr Gillian Mulholland, who represents the Huntstown Mast Action Group, told Northside People that they fear a third antenna may also be added.

“We are disgusted by this and will continue to campaign against the erection of such masts near the primary school until such time as something is done about it,” Dr Mulholland said.

Of particular concern to the residents is a new panel antenna that was erected on a side wall of Pinewood House during the summer months.

The residents are also angered by the fact that Fingal County Council is unable to do anything to prevent the masts being erected, due to the fact that they are exempted from planning permission.

An objective relating to mobile phone masts included in the Fingal Development Plan 2005-2011 states that an area of land 200 metres in radius around a school premises should be kept free from the erection of phone masts.

“However, Fingal County Council has told me that this is only valid if the mast requires planning permission,” explained Dr Mulholland.

“Those of the type on Pinewood House do not require planning permission but a mobile mast is a mobile mast regardless.

“They still give out microwave radiation, which nobody will confirm is safe or not for children to be exposed to. In the meantime, no one seems to want to take precautions to protect our children.”

Local Socialist Party TD, Joe Higgins, who joined the residents at the protest last week, said it was outrageous that parents have been obliged to take such steps.

“Such transmitters should not be sited near schools, full stop,” he said. “There are very serious unanswered questions about their health effects, especially on children.”

“The Government carries a responsibility here also for allowing these masts to go up as exempted developments. This is incredible.”

However, a spokeswoman for mobile phone company Vodafone told Northside People that the health and safety of the public, Vodafone customers, employees and contractors is of paramount importance to the company.

“Vodafone ensures that mobile phones and their base stations are designed and operated so that people are not exposed above radio frequency exposure guidelines set by international and national bodies such as the International Commission on Non-Ionizing Radiation Protection ,” she said.
“The guidelines are there to protect all members of the public 24 hours a day.”

The spokeswoman said that expert scientific reviews conclude that it is unlikely that there are adverse health effects linked to the use of mobile phones or living or working near radio base stations when they are operated within the relevant guideline limits.

Omega read "Base Stations, operating within strict national and international Guidelines, do not present a Health Risk?" under: http://omega.twoday.net/stories/771911/

http://www.dublinpeople.com/cms/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1661&Itemid=49

By Don Plant

Wednesday, September 20, 2006, 12:01 AM

Telus will decide in the next two weeks where it will locate a controversial cellphone tower in South Kelowna.

The company made the announcement at a meeting in Kelowna on Tuesday.

Demand for wireless service is increasing as the city’s population grows, said company spokesman Shawn Hall.

“We need to meet that demand,” he said. “If we were to wait a year, I’d expect to see degraded cellphone service in Kelowna. People wouldn’t have the same service they have now because demand is increasing every day.”

The 42-metre tower is slated to go up in the Todd Road area, where a hole has been dug on Chris Turton’s property. About 140 residents have signed a petition against it, arguing the electrical emissions could affect their health.

Residents who attended Tuesday’s meeting pointed to two international studies that are probing the non-thermal effects of electromagnetic frequencies (EMF) on the human body. They want Telus to delay the project at least until the studies are released.

Mayor Sharon Shepherd, who also attended the meeting, agrees.
“My preference would be that they back off on doing anything until we get those results in,” she said. “I’m very interested in these two major studies.”

A representative of Health Canada told the meeting that scientists regularly review the benchmark they use to gauge cell-tower emissions.

Bob Bradley, director of consumer and clinical radiation, said Health Canada and Industry Canada have integrated previous studies on the non-thermal effects of EMF emissions into the current safety code, said Hall.

The maximum ground-level exposure of the proposed tower’s emissions would be 98 times lower than Industry Canada’s benchmark for human health, he said.

Still, residents are worried the safety code fails to account for whether cell-tower emissions can make neighbours more prone to cancer.

“I believe (Telus) wants to do what’s good for Telus,” said Perry Leibel, a Todd Road resident who attended the meeting.

“There’s a bunch of details out there that Safety Code 6 doesn’t deal with.”

The international studies residents are touting won’t be released for another year or two, Hall said. Health Canada then has to review them.

“We’re at least three or four years until . . . those studies are reviewed and implemented,” he said. “It’s just as likely those studies will result in emission standards being relaxed.”

Residents have proposed seven other tower sites in South Kelowna.

Engineering reports found four of them are unsuitable because they’re either too far away to provide adequate coverage or two towers would have to be built on one site to transmit signals over a ridge of land, Hall said.

The three other proposed sites would be suitable, but they’re closer to residential areas. “I was disappointed there wasn’t a better site that appears to meet their criteria. I would hope no homes (are affected),” said Shepherd.

One family is moving away from Todd Road. Paul White, who devoted more than a year opposing the tower, said he’s tired of wasting his time.

“I have no power at all,” he said. “We’ve been graced with a period when they haven’t built, and I’m grateful for that. It gives us time to move out.”

© Wednesday, September 20, 2006Copyright KelownaDailyCourier.ca

http://www.kelownadailycourier.ca/article_3100.php

· Privacy row could end website that shows sites
· Fears mobile companies may stop cooperating

Richard Wray,
communications editor
Tuesday September 19, 2006
The Guardian

The ability of homeowners and concerned parents to pinpoint local mobile phone masts, find out who owns them and how powerful they are, has been jeopardised by a spat between telecoms regulator Ofcom and privacy watchdog, the Information Commissioner.

Details of the position of masts - including those for the emergency services' communications network Airwave - are available through SiteFinder, a service set up following the Stewart report into mobiles and health, on the Ofcom website.

But a ruling by the Information Commissioner has placed the site's future in doubt. After an 18-month investigation, the commissioner last week ruled in favour of a request, understood to be from a consumer group, that all the information used to compile the site be made available.

At present that data is used by Ofcom to let people find out who owns masts within about 500 yards of their front door. Searching a wider area merely shows where masts are, not who owns them. While it is technically possible to use a series of local searches to build up a nationwide map, it would take many hours and the data is updated every three months.

The mobile phone companies fear that if all the information is made readily available, it will be easy for competitors to find the "holes" in networks giving them a competitive advantage or allowing rivals to target advertising in specific areas, telling consumers to switch networks if they want better coverage.

The data is provided on a voluntary basis by the five UK mobile networks, Airwave and Network Rail, which uses trackside masts to communicate with drivers. Ofcom can only compel the operators to give data to an accuracy of 100m, which would be pointless in major urban areas where a hectare could include dozens of masts. In addition Ofcom has no way of forcing operators to divulge details of a particular mast's power.

An Ofcom spokesman said the regulator fears that if the ruling is followed, the mobile phone companies will stop giving out the information and SiteFinder will collapse. "We are concerned by the [Information Commissioner's] decision as we believe it may have the effect of removing a source of important information from the public domain," he said. "We are considering our next step." Ofcom has until October 9 to appeal.

A source close to one of the mobile phone networks said the company was very concerned about the impact of the ruling and would almost certainly stop providing information if it was implemented. Ofcom also tried to argue that divulging all information about the location of masts could put the emergency services' communications in jeopardy. But the commissioner rejected this, saying: "Although it would take longer, a determined terrorist or criminal could obtain this information from SiteFinder."

http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1875541,00.html#article_continue


Informant: Sandi from Mast Sickness UK

http://www.cellular-news.com/story/19373.php


Informant: Sandi from Mast Sickness UK

By: Vicki Weller

HEALTH and safety fears have triggered local objections to an O2 proposal to erect a mast at Hillsboro, just outside Newbridge town. The application was originally made by O2 in May but this was declared invalid after the site notice was deemed to insufficiently visible. It was then resubmitted, delaying the process somewhat.

O2 Communications Ireland has applied for the erection of the mast, antennae, equipment container and ancillary facilities at the Hillsboro site. Local resident James Conlon, who has objected to the application, states that he fears microwaves emitted by the mast could endanger the health of local people.

According to Mr Conlon, the proposed mast is to be located approximately 600 metres from his home, which he considers to be too close. “International studies indicate, and it is the policy of many councils, that such masts should be located at least one kilometre from residential housing.”

Mr Conlon also points out that there are already five mobile masts in the immediate locality of the Hillsborough townland, three of which are O2 masts, and two erected by Vodafone. His submission to the council notes that there are already enough masts to service the area, since these masts can be shared between the mobile phone operators.

“There is no need for another mast,” he concludes.

Similar reasons for objection are cited by another resident, Oliver Murphy, who states that the proximity of the mast could result in illeffects to the health of his family.

The Hillsborough site earmarked by O2 is located close to the sandpit operated by local businessman Seamus Tougher. Mr Tougher has not, however, objected to the application, saying that he “does not want to get involved”.

“I am running a business here and I’m not really concerned about this. These masts are all over the place. I use a mobile phone myself. I also believe that the technology is changing and the masts might even be obsolete in a few years’ time,” he commented.

Kildare County Council spokesman Charlie Talbot said that the closing date for objections to the O2 application was Monday 28 August and a decision was now expected on 17 September.

© Kildare Nationalist, 2006.

http://www.kildare-nationalist.ie/news/story.asp?j=23845

A bid to build a fourth phone mast close to a community centre has been angrily dismissed by councillors. Mobiles giant Hutchison 3G wants to put another street lamp style mono-pole on Spencer Road railway bridge despite fierce protests from fifteen neighbours

Two have already been erected on the south side of the West Coast Line crossing and another has been approved, but not yet erected on the north side of the structure.

And company agent John Tootill argued that a fourth mast would "balance" the aesthetics of the controversial structures – to the amazement of Wigan's planning and development committee this week.

The mast, which would allow video phone messaging and connection to the Internet for Whitley residents, would operate within internationally agreed radiation guidelines, and the mast would be partially screened by a woodland area behind, he insisted.

But the "minimalist" look of the equipment failed to convince Wigan Central Labour councillor Joe Shaw.

He said: "I would like to know just when did mobile phone masts become part of the street furniture as we know it?

"As far as I can see, they are an eyesore and a travesty for the environment and I think coming back and back with more masts in this one area is absolutely outrageous.

"If we allow this when is it going to stop? Presumably they will be back with three on one side of the bridge and then they will want to make things equal with three on the other!"

He was backed by Whitley Methodists' Rev David Clowes who appeared before councillors as the protesters' witness.

The minister said the church prided itself on youth work in the community – and six groups were based there in the shadow of the profusion of masts, from babes in arms to young teenagers.

Rev Clowes said: "Many people are very afraid of the effect of these masts in our area.

"We have no knowledge of the long-term effect that radiation from these masts has on the brains of children, and their general health.

"The dangers from asbestos or lead in petrol were not known until years later and if the council approve this mast I would like to know how this can be guarding the well being of our young people, which is one of their main roles."

Community Action Party's Coun Jim Ellis is now calling for planners to produce a map with each new application showing all masts within a quarter of a mile radius, to try and prevent such proliferations.

The planning committee unanimously threw out the mast plan.

14 September 2006

All rights reserved © 2006 Johnston Press Digital Publishing.

http://www.wigantoday.net/ViewArticle2.aspx?SectionID=66&ArticleID=1768187