Cyprus Mail 19 December 2019 - article by Jonathan Shkurko
The rollout of 5G technology in Cyprus is proceeding smoothly and is expected to be implemented by June 30, 2020 for 700MHz and by December 31, 2020 for the 3.6GHz band, as per the deadlines set by an EU legislation.
A public consultation prior to the auction procedure of 5G radio spectrums took place recently at the Electronic Communications & Postal Regulations (OCECPR) office in Nicosia and was attended by local telecommunication companies Cyta, Epic, Primetel and Cablenet, as well as by Hellas Satellite Consortium, satellite operators association ESOA, law firm Sialarou & Sialarou and by private citizens.
Cablenet, Epic, Primetel and Cyta have already expressed interest in participating in the bidding process.
However, only the first three have agreed to share the licence for 5G, whereas Cyta said that only three licences should be provided and that they have already developed the infrastructures for the technology rollout.
The Department of Electronic Communications will hold an auction to award the 5G licences in March 2020.
However, not everyone in Cyprus is on board with the implementation of 5G technology.
A petition to stop it from happening has already gained over 10,000 signatures and has been sent to the government.
“We want the citizens of Cyprus to be aware of the real impact that 5G will have on any living organism,” said Stefania Christodoulou, who started the petition.
“5G will affect human beings, especially children, the environment, animals and could potentially even threaten fetuses,” she added.
Our goal is to suspend the implementation of 5G in Cyprus and work towards finding a better and safer alternative for the sake of our future generations, she said.
She said Cyprus’ medical tourism is among the best in Europe and needs to be properly safeguarded.
5G technology will not replace existing 4G technology, but will complement it.
That means broadband speed could even be 100 times faster than the one in use today and streaming movies on smart TVs, mobile phones or tablets will work ever so smoothly.
In addition to that, 5G will also allow the implementation of holograms, three-dimensional images projected onto mobile communications devices.
As for potential adverse health effects of 5G technology, Green Party MP George Perdikes said the government should be responsible to monitor the technology and ensure it does not cause any harm to the public.
The Department of Electronic Communications has made it clear that there will be a special committee dedicated to keeping the situation under control.
Cyta’s chief technology officer Chrysis Phoiniotis has also guaranteed to safeguard citizens’ health.
