Annoyed with call drops? Blame phone tower emission myths

Experiencing call drops? It could be linked to the apprehensions surrounding public health hazards of mobile tower emissions, a telecom expert said Monday. Moreover, these could also hinder the new government's plan to roll out broadband services extensively across the country.

"One of the reasons behind call drops is that because of the apprehensions of electro-magnetic field (EMF) emissions from the antenna of mobile phone towers ... local operators have pulled down towers. Myths of cancer from radiations without any reasonable scientific basis have affected the industry," Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI) director general Rajan S. Mathews told reporters here.

"The moment you have towers taken down there's going to be a hole there and replacements are not easy ... it takes a year to set up these towers," he said during the launch of videos that compile the views of independent experts from the fields of medicine and physics to dispel myths behind the radiations.

The COAI is a leading mobile communications association.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), over six billion people use mobile phones to communicate with one another.

As many as 500,000 towers are in place in the country but the number needs to go up by 30 percent.

Mathews said that with the Narendra Modi central government planning to bring 3G and 4G technology to the entire nation, myths need to be busted and people need to be sensitised about the lack of substantial links between health hazards and radiations.

"Since India does not have the landline infrastructure like the rest of the world, broadband services as envisaged by the government have to be through mobile phones. However, unless we get 30 percent more of the towers ... it will be difficult," he said.