The “Regional Assessment on Electromagnetic field
(EMF) exposure limits and risk communication challenges in the Europe Region” is an
important part of the implementation of the ITU Regional Initiative for Europe
on “broadband infrastructure, broadcasting and spectrum management”. The
assessment builds upon the recently published paper on “Implementing 5G for Good:
does EMF matter?” developed in the context of the ITU Regional Forum for Europe on 5G strategies,
policies and implementation held on 22-23 October 2020 where Member States
clearly expressed the need for coordinated action at the international level in
this field, with particular reference to the deployment of 5G.
This questionnaire aimed
at:
- gathering information among
European administrations on the potential impact of the national
legislations (amongst other) on deployment of 5G technologies with regards
to the protection of the health of the general public from exposure to
electromagnetic fields (EMF).
- gathering information on the associated
administrative procedures for the verification of compliance with this
legislation prior to putting in operation (e.g. building, planning
permission procedures), on the pace of the roll-out of future 5G mobile
networks, on the number/density of antenna sites, on the quality of
present and future networks and on the costs of these networks.
- better understanding the current situation in
the countries under scope of this questionnaire with regards to the acceptability
of the topic by the public, with particular regard to current developments
of 5G and in relation to the misinformation spike in the context of
COVID-19 in 2020. The questionnaire also seeks to gather information on
risk communication strategies at the country level, if any, and identify
challenges encountered by government administrations and NRAs in this
regard.
The questionnaire targeted ITU Admin and
Admin-related organization of the 46 countries of Europe Region. A full list of
countries is available at: https://www.itu.int/en/ITU-D/Regional-Presence/Europe/Pages/MemberCountriesinEurope.aspx
