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Optus to extend Witta Phone Tower |
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Written by Les Fawkes
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Thursday, 03 June 2010 |
Optus Telecommunications are
intending to attach 3 panel antennas to the lattice tower which already
exhists on the corner of Curramore and Cooke Road, Witta.
Optus presently has reception problems in the Sunshine Coast hinterland, most specifically in the Maleny and Conondale area.
Whilst some users of cell phones are often found scrambling to another room to get better reception or being frustrated when their cell phone reception gets dropped or is too garbled there is another group who believe that mobile phone towers are a health risk to those who reside around them. There is such a group at Witta that is attempting to have this tower upgrade stopped.
Objections to this project have to be submitted prior to June 9th. Enquiiries about mobile phone radiofrequency spectrum can be submitted via the internet at http://www.acma.gov.au/interforms/emrissues_Enquiry.asp
A spokesperson for the group, Narelle Radcliffe said, "Existing safety guidelines for cell phone towers are completely inadequate. Studies have shown that even at low levels of this radiation, there is evidence of damage to cell tissue and DNA, and it has been linked to brain tumors, cancer, suppressed immune function, depression, miscarriage, Alzheimer's disease and numerous other serious illnesses."
Ms Radcliffe continued, "Emissions from the tower at the moment are 0.0047% with the new antennas it will be 0.083% within a 200m to 300m radius (that means 20 times more output than what it is now)".
ACMA, The Federal Government Department that is responsible for licensing telecommunications reports that while the current scientific consensus suggests there are no health effects associated with exposure to radio emissions at low levels from mobile phone base stations, some members of the community still have concerns.
Ms Radcliffe said, "In Germany, dairy cows that were kept in close proximity to a TV and cell phone tower for 2 years had a reduction in milk production along with increased health problems and behavioural abnormalities. In an experiment, one cow with abnormal behaviour was taken away from the antenna and the behaviour subsided within 5 days. When the cow was brought back near the antenna, the symptoms returned."
Mobile Phone Carriers have to comply with an industry code, The Deployment of Mobile Phone Network Infrastructure Code. Under the code, carriers are required to consider ‚ "community sensitive", locations such as schools and hospitals and balance this with other factors, such as coverage objectives and engineering requirements, when deciding on placement for a site.
If you feel that the upgrade of the mobile phone tower in this instance is something that you wish to object to then there is a petition being circulated at various locations around Maleny.
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Range News 2005 - ON 
