Mobile-phone base stations 'must be removed'

It will ask the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to ask Advanced Info Service, Total Access Communication and True Move to remove their base stations. People living there are worried about possible health problems.

A DTAC source said it would appeal because the NTC had allowed the company to put the station there.

The story began two years ago when Napaporn Sangchaitaweerak and 12 other apartment-owners complained to the NTC. They said they were worried about radiation from the stations, the possible collapse of the buildings under their weight and property security given that True Move maintenance staff had used a fire escape connected to Napaporn's home.

The three companies each have a base station on the property.

The complainants said Article 45 of the Telecom Business Act allowed them to have the stations removed.

The Act stipulates that telecom consumers are entitled to file complaints with the NTC about poor telecom services and to demand details of their service use from their telecom operator; their personal information is protected by law.

The watchdog has safety regulations, one of which says operators must post signs warning of exposure to magnetic waves.

The consumer-protection committee set up a special team to look into the matter.

DTAC told it the base station complied with required signal-radiation standards and that service in the area would be disrupted if it had to remove it. AIS and True Move said the same.

The NTC checked signal radiation and found that the stations did not exceed standards.

In December 2006, the NTC instructed the consumer-protection committee to mediate a compromise and use it as a case study.

But in July this year the special team concluded it would ask that the stations be removed. There is a distinct threat of health problems for people within 300 metres of the towers, it said.

It recommended the companies use smaller sites if they cannot find suitable replacement land for the larger stations

It said the building was structurally strong.

Countering the claim that service would be disrupted if the stations were removed, it said operators could find new places to install them so that this would not be the case.

It said the fire escape should not be used by the maintenance staff.

The consumer committee must now forward its decision to the NTC.

The NTC set up the consumer committee to collect complaints and work out solutions so that the NTC could develop regulations to protect consumers.

The committee is planning to develop a telecom consumer-protection network covering 26 provinces so that consumers will be able to file complaints locally. The network will coordinate with the institute to solve problems and promote awareness of consumer rights.

Base stations have a radius of several kilometres. However, more base stations are needed where mobile-phone use is high. Without sufficient base stations in the right locations, mobile phones will not work.

Health experts say the balance of evidence indicates that there is no general risk to the health of people living near base stations and concur that the risk of using a phone itself carries more risk.