All the turmoil in the government on 5G
What is stirring in the Draghi government ahead of the next parliament vote on a highly anticipated 5G amendment in particular by WindTre and Inwit
There is tension in the Draghi government on 5G. Or rather on raising the safety limits for electromagnetic fields to at least 20 volts per square meter in order to allow the development of broadband networks.
If on the one hand the Italian PNRR allocates 6.31 billion to ultra-fast and 5G networks (under the responsibility of the Minister for Digital Transition Vittorio Colao ), and the Governance PNRR and Simplifications decree, approved at the end of May, streamlines the proceeding, to allow fast implementation of 5G networks, the adaptation of electromagnetic emission limits to European levels is essential.
At the moment in Italy the limits are 6 volts per square meter, a threshold set 20 years ago and 10 times lower than that applied in the countries of the European Union, including Germany, France and Spain, with which our country is in competition on the global export market.
Parliament is expected to vote on the amendment on electrosmog on July 22, which raises the threshold to 61 volts, the European level.
"But there is no political agreement and the measure could slip" writes La Stampa today.
Without raising the threshold, telephone operators will be forced to install many more antennas for the same territory and population.
“For days the technicians have been comparing themselves to find the right balance, allowing the executive to reformulate the amendment that can be shared by the entire majority. From what filters, an agreement has been proposed at 20 volts per square meter, but the executive's opinion is slow in coming ”, underlines La Stampa .
All the details.
WHAT THE ITALIA VITA AMENDMENT SAYS ABOUT 5G
As reported by La Stampa, "the amendment to the Simplifications decree, first signed by Marco Di Maio, deputy of Italia viva, under examination by the Montecitorio Constitutional Affairs and Environment commissions, provides for an increase in the electrosmog limit to 61 volts, European level".
THE GENERAL FRAMEWORK OF ITALY ON 5G
As we said, with regard to electrosmog, the limitations imposed in Italy are a tenth of those indicated by the European authorities.
“In the last 20 years, a legal funnel has in fact been created that does not allow telephone operators to raise electromagnetic emissions, as in the rest of Europe and the world”, La Verità highlighted today. “But at the same time it forced telephone companies to carpet the Italian territory with antennas to overcome this type of problem, thus creating more carbon dioxide pollution”, La Verità remarks .
THE FORCING OF WINDTRE ON THE ANTENNAS
And the telephone operators are urging the executive to intervene on the revision of the limits of the electromagnetic field.
Among these is WindTre. Already at the end of March in a post on Linkedin, the CEO of WindTre Jeffrey Hedberg urged the government to intervene on the limitations imposed on electromagnetic fields. But now the company has returned to focus on the issue.
“According to a recent internal analysis on the development of the Windtre 5G network” – quoted by the newspaper La Verità – it is assumed that if the current limits remain in force, 6,000 new transmission sites will have to be built from scratch, therefore new antennas. Translated into environmental impact, “6,000 new plants would absorb 162 Gwh / year of electricity, which corresponds to almost 45,000 tons of Co2 / year. Therefore, in order to create the 5G network – and meet the growing needs of users and businesses – in the absence of harmonization of the Italian limits to European legislation, it will be necessary to increase polluting emissions by 20% of the total ".
THE WHISPS OF INWIT
Last month, the tower company Inwit, the first Italian Tower Operator, also urged the government in the same direction.
On the occasion of his participation in the webinar “Prevention is online. The occasion of 5G "at the end of June, Michelangelo Suigo, director of external relations, communication & sustainability at Inwit, said:" It is good to reiterate, as already clarified by numerous international and national studies such as the Istituto Superiore di Sanità, that switching to 5G does not lead to an increase in overall electromagnetic exposure. This debate only risks creating a constant 'background noise' that takes us away from the real question: how 5G-enabled technological innovation can improve our lives and our economy ”, concluded Suigo.
THE DIFFERENT POSITIONS OF MINISTERS
But the revision of the electrosmog thresholds are dividing the Draghi executive.
As La Stampa summarized, “in addition to Colao, the ministers responsible for the matter are Giancarlo Giorgetti, Roberto Cingolani, Renato Brunetta and Roberto Speranza: the Northern League is against, the owner of Health is considering a rewrite of the text. Ecological transition and the public administration have already given the green light ".
THE GIORGETTI CRITICAL SHEET
Therefore, it is the owner of the Ministry of Economic Development who is rowing against the raising of electromagnetic pollution limits (and harmonization with European levels).
Il Foglio stressed today: “The main obstacle, at this point, comes from Giancarlo Giorgetti, according to what transpires from parliament. Yes, he himself, the minister of economic development, the exponent of the pragmatic wing of the League, considered by his opponents to be a champion of the "party of producers", sensitive to the needs of businesses and even of Confindustrial arguments. Instead, on the latest generation mobile network it extends the network of doubt. He began by expressing his preference for the fixed network ”.
“Shortly after he declared that more funds were needed for 5G – recalls Il Foglio – and it was necessary to block Huawei's Chinese aims. The government has resorted to golden power, the threat from Beijing has receded, but 5G has not come close to the heart of the minister. An apparently paradoxical attitude. There are those who explain this with the pressure of the mayors. A year ago, the movement pompously called the Italian Alliance Stop 5G, had obtained 500 orders to suspend the plants. No new antennas, but not even the upgrading of existing ones ".
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/innovazione/tutti-gli-scazzi-nel-governo-sul-5g/ on Fri, 16 Jul 2021 10:58:24 +0000.