Haruna Iddrisu: Installation of Telecom Masts Has No Health Implications –

Mr Haruna Iddrisu, Minister of Communication, on Wednesday said the level of radiation frequency emission from telecommunication masts fields and mobile phone sites have not proven to have any health hazards on human beings.

In a keynote address at a public education forum, in Bolgatanga,
on Electromagnetic fields (EMF) from telecommunication Communications
masts, organised by the Ghana Investment Fund for electronic
communications (GIFEC) in collaboration with the Upper East Regional
Co-ordinating Council, he said mobile phones have become a potent tool
in the fight against poverty.

He said with the enormous expansion of the facility in the
country, operators were deploying all types of equipment for
installation of base stations to provide the necessary network
services calling for a lot of concern from the public.

Mr Iddrisu said although there has been concerns about the health
implications of the facility, no positive relationship has been
established, however, government was taking precautionary approaches
to protect any effect the telecommunication field masts might have on
life and property.

He said cabinet had given approval for new guidelines in the
establishment of EMF and called on telecommunication operators to be
ready to share their infrastructure as “co location is mandatory in
Ghana” to reduce the increasing numbers and rivalry over who has the
highest masts.

He said Ghana would soon move from analogue to digital television
to improve television picture quality and services.
Mr Iddrisu called on the National Communications Authority to
direct telecommunication providers to order in the provision of
quality service, saying a tour of the Upper East Region indicated
network call congestion.