In response to Wednesday’s article entitled “Report Says Weak Cell Signals Emit More RF Exposure Than Strong Ones,” Nash Higgins, a Vice President at Proteus Services offers additional insight into the article’s findings. -ed
Dear Jim,
I’d like to offer some additional insight on this article [“Report Says Weak Cell Signals Emit More RF Exposure Than Strong Ones” 11/28/18]. While it does not give any false information, there’s an important detail missing regarding the source of the RF exposure mobile users will be subjected to if they’re in low RF coverage. The RF coverage displayed on the mobile device is based on the RF signals emanating from a base station. That level of RF exposure is much lower than the RF exposure users are subjected to by their mobile device, especially if it’s held up to their ear, as in when conducting a voice call. The missing information is that in low coverage, a mobile device has to transmit much higher power to communicate with the base station.
The reason the base station coverage is low can be due to distance, or terrain (hills and foliage) or a building structure. But the important detail is those same RF path challenges that cause the base station’s signal to be low at the mobile device also cause the mobile device to have to transmit much more RF power to communicate with the base station. And that mobile’s RF is what exposes users to more RF in low signal areas. The advice given in the article about using a hands-free device such as an ear piece or speaker phone is golden, as that extra distance between the user and the mobile device greatly diminishes the RF exposure level the user sees.
As the article is written, an uninformed user may think that weaker RF signals cause more RF exposure to people, which they definitely do not. It’s the effect that weak signals have on the mobile device, making it transmit more RF, that causes the effect your article highlights. There’s already way too much bad information, and still some unknowns on this subject already, so I’m sensitive to situations where the public may be more confused.
Keep up the good work.
Nash Higgins
Vice President – Business Development
Proteus Services
November 30, 2018
