Is 5G Killing Us?

Connectivity or Conspiracy?

5G is simply a technology, not much different than 4G, 3G or 2G.

Why all the hype for it?

Simply because it will allow more advanced technologies to flourish. 5G is more a tool than a product in and of itself.

Now I’m sure the question you would like answered is, are the towers which have antennas installed on them which beam down connectivity to us dangerous? Do they cause cancer?

Without going into too much detail, you have to understand that 5G is using radio waves like all previous and existing wireless communication technologies. Nothing truly revolutionary.

But isn’t the frequency that 5G using very high?

No, that’s not true. 5G is using pretty much the same frequencies as tech before it. Just for the sake of argument, nearly all mobile technologies utilize the range below ~6GHz, due to its good propagation characteristics.

Now, radio waves can be categorized into two major categories: those which have ionizing radiation, and those with non-ionizing radiation.

Ionizing waves CAN have carcinogenic properties, whereas non-ionizing waves don’t.

This graph below shows that ionizing radiation starts at about 3 PHz, whereas the highest frequency use for 5G today is mostly up to 3.5GHz (around 1 million times lower energy per photon).

Most studies conducted to date show that the majority of effects from mobile radiation (which use non-ionizing frequencies) are limited to tissue heating, which is considered minimal and short-term.

This heating is greatly reduced depending on the distance you are from the antenna, both recieving and sending. Furthermore, at low power levels and exposure where there is little or no heating effect, the hazard is insignificant.

You may have heard that some countries are deploying 5G networks using a frequency range called millimeter wave (mmWave), typically in frequencies close to 27GHz.

Admittedly, that’s a higher range than previous tech, but still significantly lower than the ionizing radiation levels. And the only reason to do so is because the sub-6GHz ranges are very crowded and cannot cater to the growing demand for traffic, which needs more bandwidth. mmWave can greatly help there.

So, to sum up: No, 5G is not here to kill us.