Watchdog fails to confirm claim on phone base stations

The communications authority will not verify a claim by a mobile phone operator that more transmission antennas will result in fewer base stations and lower radio emissions, since this does not fall within its remit.

Communications company Go recently announced a multimillion investment to overhaul its mobile phone network and double its transmitting antennas.

The news raised health concerns but a company spokesman said putting up more antennas would result in fewer base stations and lower radio frequency outputs since distances between mobile phones and antennas would be shortened.

But the authority will not be verifying these claims, insisting that irrespective of the number of antennas or base stations in operation, its job is to monitor the electromagnetic frequency levels of radio communications installations.

“The authority’s role in regulating the provision of electronic communication networks and services does not include aspects relating to the design and placement of base stations,” a spokesman for the MCA told The Times.

She said the network design and the technology used to operate the network will ultimately dictate the number of base stations and corresponding antennas.

“Irrelevant of the number of base stations installed in Malta and Gozo, the MCA will continue with its activity to monitor the EMF levels of radio communications installations to ensure the emissions are within the permissible levels set out at law.”

The authority had no competence on health matters, she added, since the MCA’s role was restricted to ensuring radio emissions did not exceed the limit defined by the Health Department and the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection.

The level of emissions is not a direct factor of the number of transmitting points but a factor of the power with which the transmission is made, she said. “Though monitoring will obviously continue to be necessary there is no specific reason to expect increased emissions to be an automatic consequence of an increase in the number of stations.”

The MCA said there were 1,043 base stations across Malta and Gozo but refrained from giving a breakdown by company saying the information was commercially sensitive.