There has been a lot of talk about 5G lately. From a simple new technology for cellular systems characterized by high capacity and very low latency, to a system with many antennas distributed in densely populated places to allow to deliver the maximum possible capacity, trying to reduce the transmission power. As usual there are committees in favor of the service and committees against electromagnetic fields. From a health point of view the discussion is to consider thousands of studies, some generic, others focused on the specific 5G system. Also from the urban planning point of view the impact is interesting, considering that many low power antennas, close to the user, are an alternative scheme to a few antennas often miles from the user.
In this complex scenario the attempt is to bond together all the Authorities, at least at regional level, with homogeneous information and also with a continuous dialogue with cellular operators, which are 4 on all frequencies and become 5 if we consider only the high capacity access network. Meeting them also means to understand if it is possible to plan the use of the 6 V/m maximum, in order to promote pluralism and therefore the variety of offer to the users.
In this context, the Emilia-Romagna Region has adopted the Regional Deliberation 818/2020 precisely to establish a Regional Table on 5G, for the study, analysis and sharing of technical and administrative aspects related to the dissemination of 5G in our territory, involving representatives of the Region, Local Authorities, Lepida, Health Authorities, ARPAE, Universities and Research Centers, mobile operators. The objectives of the table are: to create and make available to the community a common heritage of knowledge on 5G with emphasis on authorization, regulatory and health aspects, also using third party expertise; to outline guidelines to support the identification of suitable locations for new facilities, the acceleration of administrative procedures for the issuance of authorizations on public or private sites; to conduct the diffusion of the 5G system at the territorial level with the cellular operators, in order to allow a homogeneous diffusion, with adequate capacity, containing or reducing the electromagnetic impact; to join with other similar tables to build a homogeneous vision of the Public Administration; to analyze the requests of citizens and companies conveyed by the local authorities in order to find homogeneous answers.
Lepida is collecting some technical materials made available to everyone and the repository is available at http://5g.chaos.cc. Of fundamental importance is the connection with all the initiatives in progress including, for example, that of the Metropolitan City of Bologna.
