Author: Julie Campbell

The BSNL has released a statement that claims that there has yet to be proof that phones or towers have harmful radiation.

An official from Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) in Agartala, India has now released a statement on behalf of the company that says that there has yet to be any conclusive evidence or data that would indicate that radiation emitted from mobile technology or cell phone towers have any adverse impact on the health of human beings or the environment.

The statement was made on behalf of BSNL by the chief general manager of the company.

The Northeast circle one chief general manager, D.P. Singh explained that “There is no conclusive study, data or evidences about the bad health or ecological effects of radiations from mobile phones or towers in India,” when speaking about the impact of mobile technology. Mr. Singh was addressing reporters when he made this controversial statement that has caused people from around the world to react in support of or against BSNL’s official perspective on the matter.

According to Singh, the mobile technology precautions in India are superior to much of the developed world.

He stated that “India’s stringent measures against radiations from mobile phones or Base Tower Stations (BTS) are ten times more than the USA and European countries.” He also explained that there are approximately 775,000 BTSs within India, and as of yet, there have been only about 90 of them that have been determined to be non-compliant with the regulations that are set forth by the department of telecommunication (DoT), for which the operators have been issued penalties.

Singh said that the penalty that was imposed in each of those cases was Rs 10,00,000 ($US 15,800) to each of the operators who was determined to have a non compliant BTS.

The official explained that electromagnetic field levels from those mobile service towers is audited regularly by way of Telecom Enforcement Resource Monitoring (TERM) cells of the DoT. Those are being completed in order to ensure that the mandatory regulations have been implemented and that the towers are all compliant.

Singh also pointed to a number of WHO studies that have been conducted over the last twenty years with regards to the potential health risk of mobile technology and BTSs, saying only that “A section of so-called experts and environmentalists to achieve their personal gain and business benefit are occasionally spreading exaggerated facts about radiations from mobile phone or towers based on some myth and falsehood.” This indicates that despite the World Health Organization conclusions, Singh and the BSNL feel that they have somehow been able to establish that the radiation from these devices and towers are safe. It is no mystery as to why the statement has generated controversy from around the globe.

The E.U. has now reached an agreement with the companies to abolish these added fees by June 2017.

The European Union has managed to reach an agreement with its mobile networks to do away with roaming charges, in a move that will go into effect in two years’ time, in June 2017.

The official agreement between the E.U. and the companies remains in its preliminary form.

While the first stage of the agreement with the mobile networks is complete, it must still receive the approval of the European Parliament as well as other E.U. governments before it can be officially signed into a law. However, it is believed that this process will be completed without any notable hiccups. When the law is implemented, it means that travelers who use their mobile phones in any of the 28 countries of the European Union will pay the same amount for the calls, texts, and data that they use as they would if they had remained within their own home country.

Before the June 2017 law goes into effect, mobile networks will have their roaming charges capped.

This will keep the upper possible limit charged to smartphone customers at €0.05 per minute of talk, and per megabyte of data. That cap will go into effect as of April 2016. This is a massive reduction from the current cap of €0.19 and €0.20, respectively.

Cell phone networks will still be able to adopt a fair use policy, which will mean that it will not be possible for an individual to register and pay for a mobile phone outside of their country of residence so that they can use it at home. This stops people from paying for cellular service in a country that offers cheaper rates than their own home nation.

The law will also feature a clause that will make it possible for the networks to be able to “impose minimal surcharges”, should they be able to prove that their having to comply with the current system that blocks roaming fees would cause them to have to increase the prices on their domestic service contracts.