{"id":549224,"date":"2006-06-20T07:31:05","date_gmt":"2006-06-20T07:31:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost:8888\/wordpress\/technology\/549224-upgrade-for-ecape-cell-coverage.html"},"modified":"2006-06-20T07:31:05","modified_gmt":"2006-06-20T07:31:05","slug":"upgrade-for-ecape-cell-coverage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/technology\/549224-upgrade-for-ecape-cell-coverage.html","title":{"rendered":"Upgrade for ECape cell coverage"},"content":{"rendered":"

The decision to upgrade the signal masts comes with the aim of improving capacity, network quality and coverage areas, and marks the two service providers’ leap into three-gigabyte coverage. <\/font><\/p>\n

MTN public relations manager Mandisa Korri said: "We are constantly looking at ways to improve our network in terms of coverage, quality and capacity. In the Eastern Cape, our focus is spread across the entire region which stretches from Mossel Bay in the west to just north of Mthatha, to the east." <\/font><\/p>\n

"We are also focusing on the no-coverage areas in the Transkei\/Ciskei areas, and we are also focusing on improving our network in Port Elizabeth, East London, Mthatha and George." <\/font><\/p>\n

Base stations transmit power levels from a few watts to 100 watts or more, depending on the size of the region or "cell" they are designed to serve. What has raised concerns in the past is the emission of microwaves from cell masts which have been thought to be potentially harmful to people in the immediate vicinity. <\/font><\/p>\n

SA Cellular Telecommunications Association chairman Gert du Plessis said: "Governments worldwide have adopted comprehensive international safety guidelines governing exposure to electromagnetic emissions, including emissions from mobile phones and cellular networks. These are generally designed to operate within these stringent limits." <\/font><\/p>\n

"MTN operates mobile base station equipment according to strict international specifications and national standards. The SA health department has issued guidelines that provide the limits, and safety factors, that ensure safe exposure of the general public, to a range of electromagnetic fields, 24 hours a day, including radio frequency or ‘radio wave’ (RF) from mobile telecommunication equipment."<\/font><\/p>\n

"It is in accordance with these guidelines that MTN works to achieve strict RF safety compliance with respect to public exposure." <\/font><\/p>\n

Current scientific evidence indicates that exposure to RF fields, such as those emitted by mobile phones and their base stations, is unlikely to induce or promote cancers. Scientists have reported other effects of using mobile phones, including changes in brain activity, reaction times, and sleep patterns. <\/font><\/p>\n

Vodacom adheres to international safety standards and national laws and guidelines with regard to base stations, a spokesman said. <\/font><\/p>\n

Radio wave exposure levels of a base station where members of the public have access are said to be thousands of times lower than established international safety limits. <\/font><\/p>\n

Inet-Bridge<\/font><\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Cellular service providers Cell C and MTN have launched an environmental impact assessment (EIA) regarding the upgrading of their base station signal towers across the Eastern Cape. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":23,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sma_x_autopost_status":"idle","_sma_x_autopost_error":"","_sma_x_post_id":"","_sma_facebook_post_id":"","_sma_instagram_post_id":"","_sma_threads_post_id":"","_sma_x_attempts":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-549224","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549224"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/23"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=549224"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/549224\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=549224"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=549224"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=549224"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}