EMF radiation levels at telecommunication base stations still low: MCMC

KUALA LUMPUR: Based on radiation detection tests by the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC), radiation effects of electromagnetic fields (EMF) from telecommunication base stations nationwide are still at a low level.
MCMC Digital Services and Standards chief communications officer Datuk Mohd Ali Hanafi Mohd Yunus said simulation tests and testing done at base station sites showed radiation levels to be well below 1%.
"I can confirm the radiation is less than one per cent as compared to the level set in the mandatory standards for emission of electromagnetic fields from infrastructure recommended by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection," he said.
He was speaking to reporters after attending a plenary session in conjunction with the Study Group Five International Telecommunication Union Symposium entitled, "Environment and Climate Change".
Asked how Malaysia would deal with the issue of EMF radiation, Mohd Ali said the MCMC had set rules that radiation levels at each base station to be developed should not exceed the mandatory standards.
According to him, there are about 16,000 to 18,000 telecommunication base stations (cellular and broadband) nationwide, including towers, poles and structures above roofs.
The symposium, held from today until April 27, involves 140 delegates from 15 countries, including Rwanda, Sweden, Netherlands, France, South Korea, China, Canada and Japan.
Malaysia is represented by 40 delegates who will present two papers pertaining to environment and climate change, as well as its effects on information and communications technology.
The proposals from the symposium will be brought to the World Telecommunication Standardisation Assembly to be held in Tunisia this October. — Bernama