Debate - Rajmi MANATUNGA

Telecom towers:

Balancing development imperatives and health concerns

With the opening up of the local telecommunications market in the 90s and the subsequent entrance of private telecom companies, especially mobile phone service providers, into the country, telecommunication facilities have ceased to be a luxury for average Sri Lankans.

According to statistics, the number of cellular phone users in Sri Lanka had grown to 5.4 million by the end of 2006, while fixed-line subscribers have risen to 1.9 million.

While the liberalisation of the telecommunications market has definitely been beneficial to the country, a number of disadvantages of having multiple service providers have also transpired of late, one principle hazard being threats posed by telecommunication towers to public health.

As new telecom companies commence their operations in Sri Lanka, new towers have started mushrooming throughout the country, amounting to 3,200 towers in the country already.

Although, in terms of international and loacl standards, only only one tower should be permitted within a radius of 500 metres, this guideline is not strictly adhered to by regulators or service providers.

Sometimes, the towers built are not properly earthed owing to high costs, thus creating a high risk for the inhabitants of the respective areas and their property being struck by lightening.

For the same reasons, telecommunication towers have been a a frequent cause of litigation in different parts of the country, culminating in a recent verdict of the Kesbewa District Court that towers must be constructed in line with international standards.

As a result, the Government has taken several initiatives to address this problem, including the formulation of a set of guidelines for the erection of telecommunication towers which is currently open for public views.

Measures are also underway to build a state-sponsored 250 metre common broadcast tower for telecom companies, television and radio stations.

What is the remedy for the hazards posed to public wellbeing by telecommunication towers? Is the construction of towers regulated properly and adequately? What are the standards to be adhered to in permitting the construction of towers?

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Your articles containing less than 1,500 words must be sent to Daily News Debate, No. 35, D.R. Wijewardene Mawatha, Colombo or via e-mail to [email protected] before September 27.

Telecom towers:

Minimise impact on environment:

It is very important that the policy of the Government should be to facilitate the growth of new and existing telecommunications systems whilst keeping the environmental impact to a bare minimum and also protecting public health against the effects of harmful electromagnetic radiation.

Furthermore the policy should ensure that people have a choice as to who provides their telecommunications service, a wider range of services from which to choose and equitable access to the latest technologies as they become available.

Having a beautifully designed, architecturally attractive tower in main cities with the facility of having a panoramic view of the city combined with the installation of telecommunication and broadcasting needs of all operators in the area is an icon for any city. This will most certainly add beauty to the city.

However, it is necessary to keep in mind that this will not resolve all the requirements of towers for telecommunication purposes in a city.

Broadcasting and Telecommunication

There are basic differences between radio systems used for TV/ Radio broadcast and telecommunication purposes. TV / Radio broadcasting uses high power transmissions compared to telecommunication systems.

Good coverage for TV/Radio broadcasting can be achieved by using a sufficiently tall antenna tower located in a suitable place within the coverage area whereas telecomm services need multiple transmit/receive sites to cover the same area effectively.

Therefore, requirement of radio coverage for telecommunication services in major urban areas cannot be satisfied by having only one site to install all operator’s systems. Every telecommunication network operator has to utilise multiple sites to cover their customer base.

As an example, there is no way that entire Colombo area can be served for telecommunication purposes by using one tall tower located centrally in Colombo. Mobile networks are cellular in nature and the entire area to be covered is divided in to cells and each cell has to be served by a transmitter/receiver system.

Higher the population smaller the cell radius and therefore higher the number of site requirements. Therefore in areas where large population has to be covered, there has to be a large number of such sites.

In a city like Colombo most of the sites can be located in high rise buildings thereby avoiding towers in most cases but in areas where there are no tall buildings towers have to be erected.

Technical Limitations

Each telecommunications system has different antenna types, siting needs and other characteristics.

The principal systems are:

(i)Fixed point to point links Fixed-link systems operate through radio signals transmitted through line-of-sight antennas.

These radio links require the provision of radio relay stations. A station usually consists of a small building to accommodate the radio equipment and a tower normally varying from 40 up to 100 metres in height supporting a number of antennas.

Radio fixed link antennas are normally round “dishes”, with typical diameters of 0.3, 0.6,1.2 and 3 metres, although reflectors may be of other shapes and sizes.

Antennas can also be located on buildings or other structures. Radio fixed links operate at frequencies which require direct line of site, with range diminishing as frequency increases. The path of the radio links must be free from obstruction, such as hills, buildings, trees or large moving objects.

These factors, together with the need to take account of the curvature of the earth and differing atmospheric conditions, affect the siting and height requirements of antennas. To cover long distances, or to circumvent obstacles, intermediate repeater radio stations are often necessary.

They require at least two antennas, one to receive and the other to relay the signal; other antennas may be required for additional capacity or for fallback use. Television broadcasters use fixed links to distribute programmes and to link to studios and some businesses also use them for private commercial networks.

(ii) Radio systems for Wireless Local Loop (WLL)

Wireless Local Loop (WLL) provides point to multipoint distribution of information. Instead of connecting residential and commercial properties to the public switched network by wires, like copper cable, this system uses radio.

New networks for “Broadband Wireless Access” (BWA) services are currently being deployed with further spectrum licenses and are aimed at conveying large volumes of information (e.g. high data rate services) over short distances.

Narrowband WLL services are used for local telephony and other services. WLL operators provide important additional competition in the telecommunication sector.

A typical pattern would be to have a multi-point antenna on a central tall point with a circle of customer premises radio units distributed within the cell, accessing the central point. Centrally located transmitters / receivers use pole type antennas and in most cases are likely to be very discreet in city areas.

(iii) Mobile Systems - GSM and WCDMA

Digital Cellular GSM systems (2G) and WCDMA (3G) systems are widely employed in Sri Lanka. They cater for mobile telephone users, and now cover most of the urban and rural population of the country.

Whilst the operators have probably met their initial coverage requirements, they are still required to provide a high quality service which includes the need to meet potential customer demand.

The coverage of a cellular system is provided by a network of radio base stations, each with a certain coverage area (cell). A base station is a facility that provides transmission and reception for radio systems. There can be different categories of cells in a network.

Macro cells provide the main structure for the base station network. The base stations for macro cells have power outputs sufficient to communicate with phones up to the border area of the cell as per design. Cell radius could vary from about 5Km to about 25 or 30 Km depending on the location of the cell.

Micro cells are used to infill and improve the main network, especially where the volume of calls is high. They are sited in places such as airports, railway stations and shopping malls.

The micro cell base stations emit less power than those for macro cells and coverage is a few hundred meters. Pico cell base stations have a lower power output than those of micro cells and are generally located inside buildings.

Increase in the use of mobile phones has meant that operators are continually expanding their networks to accommodate customer requirements of service and quality.

The greatest need for base station sites is usually in built-up areas where there is the greatest density of mobile users, and within a short distance from the main roads, where the demands on network capacity are greatest.

The size of each cell is planned by the network operators. It is determined by a number of factors, but particularly the number of subscribers expected to require access to the system during the peak usage period.

In areas where traffic density exceeds the limits of the network, capacity can be expanded either by introducing new sites (macro or micro cells), or by splitting existing cells, thus effectively multiplying capacity.

Cell splitting requires the erection of additional antennas at the base station site or a new base station site. The location of transmitter antennas is important, as signals from one cell will interfere with nearby cells on the same frequency. To avoid blind spots from buildings and hills, antennas must usually be placed high up. In urban areas antennas are often best placed on existing buildings.

Sharing of Towers and sites

Cellular operators typically use vertical multiple pole type antennas about 1-3m in length, some with reflectors attached.

In addition, a number of small terrestrial microwave antennas (0.3m-1.2m) may be required to be mounted on the cellular antenna installation to provide links from the base station to the exchange.

In order to limit visual intrusion, the authorities need to attache a considerable importance to keeping the numbers of radio and telecommunications towers / masts, and of the sites for such installations, to the minimum, consistent with the efficient operation of the network.

The sharing of masts and sites need to be strongly encouraged where that represents the optimum environmental solution in a particular case. Authorities will need to consider the cumulative impact upon the environment of additional antennas sharing a tower / mast or masts sharing a site.

Use should also be made of existing buildings and other structures, to site new antennas.

Regulatory, planning and local authorities must ensure applicants for new masts to show evidence that they have explored all the possibilities of erecting antennas on an existing building, tower / mast or other structure.

Where the authority considers for reasons of visual amenity that it would be preferable for mast development in an area to be confined to a single site, the authority need to discuss with the operators the feasibility of entering into a planning obligation in order to provide a binding and enforceable requirement that the tower / mast site would be available for sharing.

Design of Towers

In any instance where there is a dispute regarding the sharing of an existing mast or site, TRCSL needs to take a firm decision to resolve the matter which should be binding on all parties. If the TRCSL considers it appropriate, they could direct the relevant telecommunications operators to share.

In seeking to arrive at the best solution for an individual site, authorities and operators should use sympathetic design and sometimes camouflage to minimise the impact of development on the environment. Particularly in designated areas, the aim should be for the tower to blend into the landscape.

The writer is ex-Technical Director of Suntel Limited.

To be continued

People’s health and safety should be given priority

Buddhika Rangajith and Sanka Priyachamara

We must thank the Daily News for selecting a very timely and important topic for its latest Debate. This is a subject that has an impact on almost all Sri Lankans. We have to develop the telecommunication industry while ensuring the well-being of the people.

We should also thank the Telecommunication Regulatory Commission for proposing a new policy on Antenna Structures and requesting comments from the public.

On August 12 TRC published a newspaper notice requesting the public to present their comments on proposed National Policy on Antenna Structures. Therefore the comments given in the Daily News Debate is very important and timely.

The policy should be there to protect the people’s health and ensure their safety. The policy should not be a document or an instrument which provides a good cover up and protection to the existing Antenna Structures, Telecommunication Towers and Private Companies.

The majority ordinary Sri Lankans do not know the impact of telecommunication towers on human health and safety. They notice only when the lightening destroys their hard earned properties. Radiation is something that cannot be seen, touch or have an immediate impact on human health.

It takes years to see the negative impact on health. So the ordinary people do not worry too much about something invisible. Therefore they can be misled very easily.

Only a handful of educated persons such as radiologists, highly qualified environmentalists know the real impact. But many of them are not interested in educating the public.

The people who suffer do not have a voice because they are being silenced by the private companies and powerful land owners who rent their lands to erect telecommunication towers.

According to the former law, attention was paid to a certain extent to ensure the health and safety of the public when granting approval for erecting telecommunication towers (Antenna Structures).

According to that law only one tower can be erected within a radius of 500 metres and a tower should be at least 150 metres away from a school, a hospital, a place of mass gathering. But according to the proposed policy, this distance has been reduced to 10 metres. This may be a mistake. What the proposed new policy should do for the well-being of the public is increasing this distance to 250 metres or more.

There are several scientific reasons to propose to increase the distance between a telecommunication tower and a school, a hospital or a place or mass gathering. A tower can be crashed down during a cyclone, a tornado or a hurricane.

The same can happen due to any other reason. When it falls it destroys everything located within its radius. Therefore it should be at least 250 metres away from homes and other buildings.

On April 29 night lightning struck on a telecommunication tower erected by a popular mobile network operator at one temple at Awariwatta, Pinkotuwa completely destroyed around 25 houses located around the tower.

Few of the injured people had lodged a complain at Panadura police station in connection with the incident. Their electric appliances and other home appliances had been damaged.

The walls of the homes and even fences have been completely destroyed. They waited in the dark for over three weeks until their homes obtained electricity supply once again.

They are still desperately waiting to receive compensation but no party turned up to pay recommendations for them. There are many similar incidents reported from areas such as Kesbewa, Horana, Mathugama and Agalawatta.

According to what Udaya Gammanpila, the Chairman of the Central Environment Authority explained through media recently, private companies do not earth their towers properly using coper wires because to do this they have to spend millions of rupees. It seems it cost only Rs.1 million to erect a tower but it cost Rs.20 million to earth it properly.

Therefore no company earth their towers properly. Even when they earth their towers, people steel the coper wires and thereafter the companies do not monitor their towers. This is the main reason for the destructions caused by telecommunication towers in addition to radiation.

According to a very recent judgment given by the Kesbewa District Court, British standards should be followed to earth the telecommunication towers in Sri Lanka. The companies have to pay around Rs.20 million to earth a tower according to British standards.

This is possible for any private company because they earn billions of rupees through business. It will be easier for them to share the cost and the towers with companies which already have towers. Therefore this should be included in the proposed policy and it should be made compulsory. But it is included in the new policy only as a proposal.

Another important rule that should be included in the proposed policy is sharing of existing towers. The new policy only proposed to share the existing towers but what is required here is making it compulsory for all telecommunication towers to share the existing towers.

It should be made compulsory for the companies which own existing towers and the companies which require new towers. Only then the people and environment can be saved while industry is developed.

In the new proposed policy there is a concept called `Tower Farms’. This concept is not suitable for Sri Lanka at all because Sri Lanka does not have bare lands like other countries. The whole country is highly populated and the unpopulated areas may not have strong signals.

Therefore this concept is very unrealistic. If this `Tower Farm’ concept is implemented the people’s health and safety will be in a grave danger by putting them in multiple EMFs. Therefore this concept should be removed from the new policy. This can be very easily replaced with another law which compels all companies to share the existing towers.

The only party which is going to be affected from this is the private companies which erect new towers in order to rent out the telecommunication companies for millions of rupees. But we cannot let a company or two to earn profit putting people in danger.

Numerous scientific researches carried out by foreign universities have revealed that the telecommunication towers increase the temperature in the environment and also generate Electro Magnetic Radiation (EMR) through Electro Magnetic Fields (EMF).

These two facts have very negative impacts on human health including tissue damage and related health problems.

According to the same researches one of the main reasons for childhood cancer is radiation. We spend 30 odd years to realise that tobacco cause cancer, but we cannot do the same here by taking the chance.

We thank once again the TRC and hope that its new proposed policy on Antenna Structures will protect people’s health and ensure their safety.