23 June 2011
Windhoek — The country’s largest mobile network operator, MTC, has issued warnings on the usage of cellphone, following a recent announcement by the World Health Organisation (WHO) about a strong possibility that signals from cellphones could cause brain cancer.
Although the International Association for Wireless Telecommunication has dismissed the findings, MTC is urging cellphone users to “adopt a precautionary approach and adopt defensive measures, such as avoiding long calls where coverage is deficient, avoid driving whilst talking on the cellphone and to avoid the intensive use of cellphones for more than 30 minutes per day”.
WHO listed signals from cellphones as “possibly carcinogenic” [cancer causing] but also acknowledged that more extensive research is needed to reach a full and conclusive finding.
The WHO’s announcement is based on a review of existing studies and literature by 31 scientists and members of the International Agency for Research on Cancer. The panel found that the extensive use of cellphones near a user’s head could result in two types of brain tumours.
According to the Chief Human Capital and Corporate Affairs Officer at MTC, Tim Ekandjo, “cellphones emit varying power depending on the conditions of network coverage and the type of cellphone used.”
Ekandjo says MTC would continue building more base stations to strengthen network coverage in areas where coverage is poor. “Some cellphones operate at lower power levels than others, and to ensure that the public is aware of each type of level, MTC will publish the list of the power levels on the company’s website in due course which we believe will assist the public in making a decision when buying a cellphone,” said Ekandjo.
MTC urges people to adopt precautionary measures. These includes avoiding making long calls where coverage is deficient or poor because the power emitted by the cellphone when making calls where coverage is poor will be at maximum instead of minimum.
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