In recent weeks, I have seen various reactions in the media and social networks regarding the use of 5G technology around the world. Some of them extreme and reprehensible, such as the burning of antennas in some European countries. The reason for these attacks was born from the fact that the existence of a supposed conspiracy theory in the spread of the coronavirus through the installation of 5G antennas was spread on social networks.
Can 5G antennas really transmit the coronavirus?
The radio waves involved in 5G and other cell phone technologies are in the low frequency of the electromagnetic spectrum. Various experts have come out to refute these theories, stating that it is biologically impossible, such as Dr. Stephen Powis, medical director of the National Health Service of England. On the other hand, Dr. Simon Clarke, associate professor of cellular microbiology at the University of Reading, UK, states that “the idea that 5G reduces the capacity of your immune system does not stand up to scrutiny.”
It is also important to highlight the contradiction of these conspiracy theories. According to the BBC, “the coronavirus is spreading in cities in the United Kingdom that do not yet have 5G technology, and in countries like Iran, where this technology does not yet exist.”
What is 5G technology and what benefits can it bring to the education sector in Peru?
5G is the fifth generation of mobile technology that will allow a better performance in the speed of connections (up to 10 times more than the current 4G on the market), will reduce latency time (response time of the web), and will multiply exponentially the number of connected phones. 5G networks will allow devices to connect to each other directly in a more efficient way and with less use of battery power.
For Internet of Things devices, for example, the superior speed and performance of 5G networks will unlock much-requested features such as voice commands, facial recognition, real-time video and image processing, and interfaces based on gestures.
In a country like ours, which has been forced by the pandemic to migrate its education to the virtual format, it is essential to ensure an optimal level of quality in internet connectivity. This is a topic that I have already delved into in other articles, and it should not cease to be one of the main priorities on the government’s agenda. In this time of confinement, we have seen that virtual education is a great help, but we must ensure that it will be sustainable over time, even after the pandemic.
Countries such as the United States, Japan, China and South Korea, have anticipated this launch, allocating part of their budgets to the development of patents related to 5G. In Latin America, since 2016, countries such as Mexico, Chile, Colombia, Brazil and Argentina have carried out similar tests. This year, Uruguay implemented it in two cities with excellent results. Telephone companies such as Telmex are carrying out deployments with 300,000 km of fiber optics aimed, in the first instance, at the business segment. The goal is to start with coverage between home and factories. In our country, telephone companies assure that it could be implemented by 2021, although only in 2019, according to figures from the Peruvian Foreign Trade Society (Comex), the mobile connectivity of 60% of devices is still 3G and 4G.
Legislation often tends to go at a very slow pace, regarding technological advances in the world, and here the State has the challenge of preparing itself in the development of connectivity, and for this it must adjust the existing broadband legal framework, promote the deployment of the telecommunications infrastructure, eliminate the bureaucracy that is involved in the processes, and be a facilitator of public-private partnerships. Only in this way can we ensure that we are truly being inclusive with education. If the State still does not allow universities, which have shown a serious commitment to quality, to take their offer to the interior of the country, it must allow students to study their entire professional careers at a distance. For this, connectivity is necessary, and the 5G network will be key in this process in the long term.
Finally, let’s not allow false news and pseudo theories to misinform people, inciting hatreds, fears and unfounded worries in them. Let us do our own research and make an objective judgment based on scientific evidence.
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