CÁDIZ FACES SUMMER MOBILE PHONE CRISIS
The coast from San Roque to Sanlúcar has the worst mobile telephone coverage in Andalucía with the result that an overload of resources could be experienced this summer. This would lead to a possible breakdown in services with Chiclana, Conil, Algeciras, Vejer and Sanlúcar suffering the most problems because of the restrictions the local town halls place on the erection of antennas.
The crisis in Cádiz was highlighted recently in Córdoba at a meeting attended by all the major mobile telephone companies – Telefónica Móviles, Vodafone, Amena and Xfera. They form a business association covering information technology and telecommunications under the banner AETIC and held a meeting with the media to discuss the erecting and coverage of new antennas.
AETIC stated that in Andalucía there are currently 6,686 antennas and around 700 of these are in the province of Cádiz. However to give the province the coverage it needs there needs to be installed at least 1,160 more for the GSM service and 1,120 for the UMTS signal.
The problem in the province is that a number of town halls make it difficult for telecommunications companies to erect new antennas. AETIC says the erection of new antennas has been politicised and made a town planning matter. It should take a telecommunication company between three and four months to go through the process of seeking permission for a new antenna but it was taking an average of 19 months.
Juan Represa, from the University of Valladolid is said to be the main medical expert in Spain on antennas. He attended the AETIC meeting stating that more than 1,300 studies show that the electromagnetic waves given off by telephone antennas as similar to those emitted by radio and television antennas but these do not suffer the same restrictions. The city of Cádiz was given as a prime example of the problem faced by the province in general.
Previously only six out of 10 people in Cádiz had a mobile phone but in the past two years that has risen to between eight or nine. However over the same period the number of antennas has not risen to keep pace with the increased public demand.
The crisis in Cádiz was highlighted recently in Córdoba at a meeting attended by all the major mobile telephone companies – Telefónica Móviles, Vodafone, Amena and Xfera. They form a business association covering information technology and telecommunications under the banner AETIC and held a meeting with the media to discuss the erecting and coverage of new antennas.
AETIC stated that in Andalucía there are currently 6,686 antennas and around 700 of these are in the province of Cádiz. However to give the province the coverage it needs there needs to be installed at least 1,160 more for the GSM service and 1,120 for the UMTS signal.
The problem in the province is that a number of town halls make it difficult for telecommunications companies to erect new antennas. AETIC says the erection of new antennas has been politicised and made a town planning matter. It should take a telecommunication company between three and four months to go through the process of seeking permission for a new antenna but it was taking an average of 19 months.
Juan Represa, from the University of Valladolid is said to be the main medical expert in Spain on antennas. He attended the AETIC meeting stating that more than 1,300 studies show that the electromagnetic waves given off by telephone antennas as similar to those emitted by radio and television antennas but these do not suffer the same restrictions. The city of Cádiz was given as a prime example of the problem faced by the province in general.
Previously only six out of 10 people in Cádiz had a mobile phone but in the past two years that has risen to between eight or nine. However over the same period the number of antennas has not risen to keep pace with the increased public demand.
posted by Niall at 3:11 AM
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