New tech demands new answers


The true, long-term health effects of the burgeoning fifth-generation, 5G cell sites—soon to proliferate from coast to coast and right here in many of our local communities—will have to be decided by experts much smarter than us. The question of how 5G’s higher radio frequencies will affect the general population (and our environment) probably won’t be answered in the near future. Between the experts and the myriad studies, the findings fall between “no big deal” and “apocalyptic.”

We invite readers to submit their letters on the subject.

What we can talk about is the impending plan by the nation’s largest telecoms to build an infrastructure that will support the 5G networks and dramatically increase internet speed. And it won’t just be for streaming movies on Netflix. The idea is to create a network that’s aimed at providing the speed to connect the “internet of things”—think cars, kitchen devices, heart monitors and, on a larger scale, dashboards, networks and gateways.

Last year the five-member Federal Communications Commission board ruled that local governments have limited authority in stopping telecoms from rolling out 5G wireless networks. This is troubling to our local cities that feel the feds may have overreached in their mission to increase internet speed. The FCC ruling is being challenged in court.

According to the League of California Cities, which has joined in the fight against the FCC, there are four big problems with the 5G mandate. First, to make 5G possible, it requires small cell sites to be placed every several hundred feet. This has to do with how 5G radio waves travel through the air versus 4G. Second, the ruling requires cities to process applications for these cell sites in either 60 or 90 days, depending on the type of site. Third, it cuts the costs of what cities can charge telecoms to install 5G cell sites. And fourth, it lowers the standards of where the sites can go.

The idea of these metal contraptions taking up so much real estate in our tree-friendly communities from Calabasas to Oak Park is disturbing to say the least.

So where is our local federal representative in all this?

The time is now for U.S. Rep. Julia Brownley to organize a town-hall-style event where concerned residents can ask questions and gain understanding about where the FCC is coming from and whether its actions are putting public health at risk. Or, maybe it’s all a big scare. Either way, we deserve to know.

Now, if only the FCC and the telecoms could come up with a plan to stop those annoying robocalls. That would gain some real buzz.