What the networks say

MTN embarks on a public participation process in accordance with the municipal guidelines prior to erecting masts, says its spokesperson, Jacqui O’Sullivan. South Africa does not have standardised guidelines relating to this infrastructure. As a result, each area is managed in accordance with its own local requirements. “Public meetings are not always a requirement by the local authorities. However, we believe these engagement sessions are important and we will often initiate these meetings to establish and maintain open lines of communication with local residents. “An important audience we need to remember is the ‘silent majority’ of residents who simply require connectivity. “Highly densified urban areas, where we see lots of townhouses, apartments and estates, are often where we face the most demand from customers seeking to up-scale their connectivity. “More capacity and ever-increasing speeds are what communities are looking for.” The demand for spectrum is an important consideration. “While some progress has been made in facilitating access to high-frequency spectrum, there is a pressing need to speed up the allocation of spectrum, particularly the important 2 600MHz frequency. “The release of spectrum will create much-needed capacity that will be operated using existing infrastructure. MTN voluntarily complies with the guidelines set out by the International Commission on Non-Ionising Radiation Protection (ICNIRP) endorsed by the World Health Organisation and the health and safety guidelines outlined by the Department of Health. “MTN undertook to carry out an electromagnetic fields predictive study for every antenna installed. The emissions are 20% below the ICNIRP guidelines.” A Vodacom spokesperson said it fulfils and obtains the necessary approvals from the local municipal council for all its base station sites. “In addition, we also embark on a public participation process, as required by the council, where residents are notified about our intention to erect a base station site in their area. “Most experts say there is no scientific reason to distance base stations from places where people live and work.” The spokesperson says South Africa is in the “middle of a mobile connectivity boom. “Data traffic on Vodacom’s network and across all mobile network companies is growing as more people use the internet and applications every day. Today, in excess of 20 million people use mobile devices to access the internet on the Vodacom network. In comparison, there are less than one million fixed line ADSL connections in the country. “The capacity of each base station is limited and given the growth in data traffic, if we’re not able to add new sites, both the quality of calls and the speed of data connections will suffer.” - Sheree Bega