Report Calls for More Research on Health Effects of Wireless Technologies

A stronger research effort on the potential health effects of exposure to radio frequency energy tied to the global explosion in wireless technology like cell phones, laptops and hand-held Web-surfing gadgets.

That's according to a new National Research Council report chaired by University of Colorado at Boulder researcher Frank Barnes.

Requested by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration from the National Research Council last year, the report was released Jan 16. The authors did not evaluate potential human health effects of radio frequency, or RF, exposure from wireless devices, but rather made recommendations on how to meet research needs regarding the technology, says Barnes, a distinguished professor in the electrical and computer engineering department.

"This is a very, very complex issue," says Barnes. "Obviously we are not seeing immediate short-term effects of such exposure, like people dropping dead on their cell phones. But in the long term -- 10, 20 and 30 years out -- we have a lot less information about potential effects from these types of wireless devices."

The NRC committee chaired by Barnes hosted a three-day conference on the topic last August in Washington, D.C., reviewing scores of studies and hosting testimony by more than a dozen scientists from nine countries. Barnes briefed the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy in Washington, D.C., on the 66-page report earlier this week. The NRC is the main operating agency of the National Academy of Sciences and the National Academy of Engineering.
Barnes says the committee recommended that future studies pay special attention to the effects of RF energy on children, adolescents, pregnant women and fetuses from exposure to hand-held devices as well as base-station antennas that transmit such signals. Although it is not known whether children are more susceptible, they could conceivably be at greater risk because of their developing tissue and organ systems, the report says.

Barnes says a large-scale epidemiological research effort involving 13 countries in Europe known as the Interphone Study is nearing completion and is providing researchers with a large amount of new data. "There clearly have been large changes in the use of personal wireless technology," says Barnes, who was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 2004.

The report authors recommend new studies on the changing designs of antennas used for hand-held wireless communication devices. While studies targeting RF energy radiation on the human head from cell phone antennas held against the ear have been conducted, some newer cell phones and Web-surfing devices have antennas in proximity to other body regions like the waist, requiring more study, Barnes said.

A number of studies also have shown a steep increase in mobile phone use by children, ensuring that younger generations will experience much longer periods of RF exposure, Barnes said. "The fact that some cancers have a 10-to-20-year latency period make these broad, long-term studies potentially important," he said.

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U.K. Study Finds No Health Effects of Cell Phone Use

Mobile phones have not been found to be associated with any biological or adverse health effects, according to the UK's largest investigation into the possible health risks from mobile telephone technology.

The Mobile Telecommunications and Health Research (MTHR) Program published its conclusions on September 12 as part of its 2007 Report.

The six-year research programme, chaired by Lawrie Challis, emeritus professor of physics at the University of Nottingham, has found no association between short term mobile phone use and brain cancer. Studies on volunteers also showed no evidence that brain function was affected by mobile phone signals or the signals used by the emergency services (TETRA).

The MTHR program management committee believes there is no need to support further work in this area.

The research programme also included the largest and most robust studies of electrical hypersensitivity undertaken anywhere in the world. These studies have found no evidence that the unpleasant symptoms experienced by sufferers are the result of exposure to signals from mobile phones or base stations.

The situation for longer-term exposure is less clear as studies have so far only included a limited number of participants who have used their phones for ten years or more. The committee recommends more research be conducted in this area.

The MTHR program also investigated whether mobile phones might affect cells and tissue beyond simply heating them. The results so far show no evidence for this and the committee believes there is no need to support further work in this area.

Challis says: “This is a very substantial report from a large research programme. The work reported today has all been published in respected peer-reviewed scientific or medical journals.

“The results are so far reassuring but there is still a need for more research, especially to check that no effects emerge from longer-term phone use from adults and from use by children.”

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Video: Meet The iPhone Hacker

A New Jersey teenager has hacked the year's biggest gadget, Apple's iPhone.

The teenager's work opens the iPhone to other wireless networks, potentially opening it to wider numbers of users.

Apple introduced its iPhone earlier this year as the next big thing in cell phones.

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AT&T Launches Video Share Program

AT&T, the once telecom giant that struggled to come to grips with the wireless age has launched its latest offering aimed at attracting and holding customers in the competitive cell phone market.

The company has rolled out AT&T Video Share, which enables live video sharing over cell phones. Covering nearly 160 markets, the service allows users to share live video over their mobile phones -- even while on a voice call.

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China and India Will Lead Growth in the Mobile Market by 2011

China and India will remain the world's growth engine for wireless services, accounting for 60% of the 1.2 billion predicted new mobile subscribers over the next five years, according to the inaugural report produced by Global Insight's new Telecoms Intermodal Forecasting Service.

Global Insight an economic and financial analysis and forecasting company.

The report compares the world's 20 leading developed and emerging markets between 2006 and 2011, and predicts that over the next five years, market penetration of wireless services will grow from 34.8% to 69.1% in China; and from 13.4% to 31.0% in India.

According to the report, China will also outpace the other 19 markets in terms of broadband growth, accounting for more than one-third of the 350 million-plus new broadband subscriptions anticipated over the next fiveyears. By 2011, China, with broadband revenues of more than US$19 billion and four times the subscribers, will surpass Japan as the world's second-largest broadband market. However, the United States will continue to maintain its position as the world's largest mobile and broadband market by revenues over the forecast period.

"The bulk of the revenues for the sector will still come from thedeveloped markets. Another notable conclusion is that the so-called deathof the landline has been overstated, even if traditional landline revenueswill take a massive hit," says Julian Watson, director of Global Insight Telecom Products and author of the special report, Substitution Shakes Up the Telecoms Sector.

More than US$50 billion in revenues will be lost worldwide over the forecast period due to fixed-line subscriber declines and the migration of voice traffic to mobile and VoIP (Voice over Internet Protocol) networks. A 4.5% decline is predicted in traditional fixed-line accesses as the growth in the China and India markets fail to offset the erosion of traditional accesses in markets like Japan, South Korea, and Europe; the latter of which has already seen extensive migration of accesses from fixed lines to mobile.

"Primarily as a result of substitution, the next five years will see a fundamental shift in the revenue make-up of the global telecoms industry. In these 20 markets, fixed-line's share of total telecoms revenues will collectively fall from 39% in 2006 to 21% in 2011; while by the end of 2011, mobile will account for over two-thirds of total telecoms revenues in those markets," Watson says.

"But as our research shows, disparate local regulatory, competitive, and economic conditions will mean that the pace of substitution will vary greatly across the 20 markets. Traditional telcos are seeking to offset or reduce substitution effects by moving into multimedia and convergent markets such as IP TV (Internet Protocol Television) and Fixed-to-Mobile Convergence (FMC), but this will not always be sufficient to protect and enhance their revenues," he concludes.

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Romantic Text Messaging On The Rise

Short, to the point, and sometimes discreet love notes are sweetening up cell phones as a result of wireless text messaging. Thirty-three percent of people surveyed say they communicate with their date or mate via text messaging in 2007, an increase of six percentage points from last year. Twenty-eight percent of users also report using text messaging to flirt.

For the fourth year, Cingular Wireless, part of AT&T, has commissioned a survey of adult cell phone users to determine how cell phones have affected their romantic lives. The survey was conducted in January 2007 by ICR (International Communications Research) among 1,006 wireless users and reveals that SMS and MMS-based communication between partners is on the rise.

Other findings from the survey include:

• Thirty-eight percent of respondents said that a date answered his or her wireless phone in the midst of a great dinner conversation while 31 percent said they had done the same.
• Twenty-eight percent have used text messaging to avoid long conversations.
• Seventeen percent reported that a wireless phone has saved them from an uncomfortable date.
• Twelve percent have used text messaging news as a conversation starter with a date or mate.
• Eight percent of respondents say they have ended a relationship over rude/offensive wireless behavior.
• Five percent of respondents have called someone else he or she was interested in from a wireless phone while on a date and seven percent reported that their date had done so.
• Six percent have judged a prospective date by the phone they use.

"Text messaging has become part of the social fabric of dating in America," says Jennifer Bowcock, director of consumer public relations for Cingular Wireless, the new AT&T. "People can text one another to make plans or even say 'I love you' when they may not have the time or ability to make a voice call. It is definitely a discreet and simple way to stay connected."

Also significant in the survey results, 59 percent of active daters use text messaging to communicate with their dates, while only 30 percent ofthose who are married, in a committed relationship or not dating do the same with their partners.

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