The Association of Telecommunications Companies of Nigeria (ATCON) has dismissed as rumoured claims that the Fifth Generation Network (5G) was causing Coronavirus.
Mr Olusola Teniola, President of the association, while speaking to newsmen in Lagos on Sunday, said that such information purportedly claiming that 5G was responsible for COVID-19 was baseless and should be considered by Nigerians as false news.
Teniola stated that such claims had not been approved by any conclusive empirical evidence by either the World Health Organisation or other health research institutions.
He said “There has been no issuance of 5G License to any of our members to build and deploy 5G network in Nigeria by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).
“However, what has happened recently was just a trial of the 5G network by one of our members which was well supervised by the telecoms regulator.
“Currently, Nigeria’s networks are currently made up of 2G, 3G and 4G and in 2014, the World Health Organisation had stated clearly there is no yet any conclusive scientific evidence to the effect that there are adverse health effects caused by telecommunications infrastructures to human with respect to exposure to the non-ionizing radiation emitting by telecoms base stations.
“ATCON, as the umbrella Association of all telecommunications companies in Nigeria, would like to state unequivocally that it would not be part of the deployment of any technology in the country that would put the health of any Nigerian at risk.
“We believe the health of end-users of any technological advancement comes as a priority in the deployment consideration of such technology by our members to provide services to Nigerians, NAN reports.
Recall that Dino Melaye, former Kogi West lawmaker, had told President Muhammadu Buhari to publicly reject the launch of the 5th Generation (5G) network with claims that it is a global economic strategy introduced into the global market purely for economic gain without due regards to human lives
