To-date, there are no scientific studies that show any concern when humans are exposed to nano Watt range electromagnetic radiation, academic Professor Carl James Debono told this newspaper.

Concerns raised with this newspaper questioned whether the new 5G networks, which are to be tested on the island through a deal signed with Chinese tech-giant Huawei, would lead to an increase in cases of exposure to such phenomena.

“It is true that more base stations are required for 5G, but. that is because the higher the frequency used, the less will be the distance travelled by the waves for the same power.”

This means that there is higher signal attenuation, the Professor explained.

In layman’s terms, an increase in the number of base stations will not necessarily translate into higher levels of exposure to electromagnetic radiation.

Malta has signed 3 memorandums of understandings with Huawei – one in 2015 for the trial of 5G technology on the island, for which Malta business envoy to Asia Sai Mizzi Lang was given credit.

The second in 2016 was, again, on a pilot project on mobile technology in Malta which also included a joint research innovation centre in the area of public security called “Safe City” and the opportunity for five Maltese students to attend a two-week ICT course in China once a year.

‘Safe City’ includes the potential implementation of AI-driven facial recognition technology in cameras.

The third was in 2018 to see the trial of 5G technology introduced to Maltese businesses and citizens.

Huawei is also involved in the ‘safe city’ pilot projected, which was the implementation of cameras backed with AI-driven facial recognition technology which will be able to recognise individuals’ faces as they move in a crowd.