29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001
Issue No.562
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Al-Ahram Weekly Online 29 Nov. - 5 Dec. 2001 Issue No.562 |
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Mobile wasteland
Can the voices of a few residents rise above the power of mobile-mania? Rana Allam follows the battle of one community against the building of a mobile phone base station
Residents of the Al-Iskan Al-Swissry residential area in Nasr City woke up on the morning of 14 September to find that their treasured garden view would soon be replaced by a mobile phone base station. Throughout the day, the site remained well guarded as workers gathered their tools and waited for nightfall to continue construction -- that is, the razing of their garden to build the station.
"And so, we waited for them to start," said Ahmed Attallah, a resident who recounted to Al-Ahram Weekly the raucous fight that ensued that night between the guards and the residents. The latter succeeded in destroying the equipment and swiftly congregated in what was left of the garden to demonstrate against the phone company constructing the base.
Al-Iskan Al-Swissry is a private compound housing over 2,000. It is owned by the residents and managed by a board of trustees. In 1984, when the residents bought their houses, the surrounding areas were mostly dumps and forgotten construction sites. "Those [sites] were replaced by gardens and parking garages built with the money and efforts of the residents. It is no one's right to rent, sell or use these areas," says Said Abdel-Khaleq, chairman of the compound's board of trustees.
As it happened, however, the General Committee for Building Cooperation did find a way to allocate a small piece of land in the middle of the residential area to the mobile phone company MobiNil. The company, in turn, decided to use this plot of land -- the garden -- to install a base station.
The angry residents demonstrating on this contested area were only dispersed that evening when Abdel-Khaleq turned up and calmed down the crowd. He promised that the construction would be stopped, confirming that the garden is "solely for the benefit and use of the residents."
While most residents are furious about the destruction of the garden, there is an even larger concern: that of safety. Many people are far from comfortable about living beside mobile phone base stations -- low-powered radio antennae that communicate with users' handsets -- as they are not convinced that the radiation emitted will not have long-term effects on their health. The residents have seized this issue to take MobiNil to court.
Mobile phone base stations take over limited empty space within the city photos: Kamal El-Garnousy
Base stations are installed everywhere and have been a constant source of complaint ever since the potential dangers of radio frequency (RF) fields became public knowledge. Yet, in spite of people's objections, stations continue to be built near schools, hospitals and on rooftops. International organisations like the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the British Independent Expert Group on Mobile Phones (IEGMP) have issued several health warnings concerning the use of mobile phones, as well as the potential harm of RF beams radiated from mobile base stations.
WHO, along with the Royal Society of Canada and the IEGMP, conducted a study last year reviewing the effects of human exposure to RF beams. The resulting fact sheet includes analysis of radiation from mobile handsets and base stations, as well as guidelines for protection against all identified hazards of RF energy within large safety margins. The report downplayed the danger of base stations, noting that a mobile phone user encounters "far higher" RF exposure than a person living near a cellular base station.
However, the report goes on to explain that mobile base station antennae, which are typically about 20-30 centimetres in width and a metre in height, should be mounted on buildings or towers at a minimum height of 15 to 50 metres above ground. These antennae emit RF beams that are typically very narrow as they travel vertically, but the waves broaden as they expand from the point of emission. Because the beams are narrow when they travel upwards, the RF field intensity at the ground directly below the antennae is low. The RF field intensity increases slightly as one moves away from the base station, as the waves broaden and spread across a wider area. The intensity then decreases again at greater distances from the antenna.
Typically, antennae mounted on rooftops are surrounded by a fence that encloses a "danger zone" some two to five metres in radius, where the RF fields exceed exposure limits. Since antennae direct their power up and outward, the levels of RF energy inside or to the sides of the building are normally very low.
Provided that those guidelines are followed, no harm can come from living close to a base station. Osman Sultan of MobiNil assures the public that "MobiNil is highly concerned with the effect of its stations on public health. Therefore, we have followed all the rules set by international organisations, as well as those set by the Egyptian Environmental Affairs Agency [EEAA]."
A source at MobiNil, who spoke to the Weekly on condition of anonymity, said that the company's position is "perfectly legal." He said that the Ministry of Housing has prohibited the installation of base stations on residential building rooftops and allowed it in wide areas or on public buildings. He further claims that MobiNil obtained agreements from the ministry and the General Committee for Building Cooperation to allocate the disputed area for installing the station, adding that "We have the documents to prove it."
But even if the base is to be proven to be "health- friendly", what of aesthetics? "Our houses were supposed to overlook a garden, which we paid money to plant," says Attallah. "We will fight to get our garden back," he vowed.
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