Swiss Review 5/2020

Swiss Review / September 2020 / No.5 7 machinery and devices. This ‘inter- net of things’ will make our homes smart and serve industry. Self-driv- ing cars, telemedicine, virtual reali- ties, and the interconnected, cli- mate-friendly smart cities of the future will also rely on it. By allocat- ing 5G frequencies before other coun- tries, Switzerland has readily as- sumed the role of technology pioneer. Yet the 5G offensive has met resist- ance. It is already available in some parts of Switzerland, albeit mostly in narrowbandmode. This is because op- erators are unable to progress as quickly as planned. Opposition to 5G has been mounting within civil soci- ety. Grassroots movements are trying to block planning applications for 5G antennas. Anti-5G pressure groups mobilised thousands of people to at- tend a national protest rally last year in Berne. Parliamentarymotions have been submitted at municipal and can- tonal level. 5G antennas in church towers have been rejected. And French-speaking cantons have en- acted their own 5G-related moratori- ums, despite responsibility lyingwith the federal government. Some 5G masts have even been damaged in ap- parent acts of vandalism by the ma- chine-breakers of the digital age. “Public health is paramount” Opponents want a 5Gmoratorium for the whole of Switzerland. They warn of the “potential health risks” of elec- tromagnetic fields and are worried about the visual impact of 5Gmasts as well as rising energy consumption and the environmental consequences. In addition, they point to the security risk associated with installing techni- cal infrastructure made in China. “Public health is paramount,” says the Grenchen-based watchmaker Re- bekka Meier, who fronts the Schutz vor Strahlung (Protection from radia- tion) pressure group. Meier is con- cerned that the transmission power of 5Gwill accentuate the negative effects of mobile radiation “to an unprece- dented extent”. She sees the promises of the tele- com sector as marketing, pure and simple. “They aremaking things up as they go along,” she maintains. In her view, our “appetite for high-definition, on-demand streaming” should not come at the cost of dotting the entire country with 5G masts. She believes that effective low-radiation solutions are a viable alternative, as seen in medicine for example. A wide spectrum of opponents Opposition to 5G in Switzerland is broad-based. On the one hand we have the conspiracy theorists, then a large contingent who explicitly dif- ferentiate themselves from the con- spiracy theorists. Some are anxious about the visual and environmental impact of 5G. Others criticise con- sumerism. Some are digital-averse or electrosensitive. Members of the Doctors for the Environment pres- sure group have their own misgiv- ings, as have both left-green and staunchly conservative politicians. SP National Councillor Martina Munz (canton of Schaffhausen) has vocal- ised these collective concerns in par- liament. Munz insists she is no tech- nophobe. However, she believes that the electromagnetic emissions from 5G need to be kept to the absolute minimum. “Eight per cent of our pop- ulation say that they are electrosen- sitive,” she says. Instead of enabling 5G signals to penetrate every nook and cranny, Switzerland should focus on establishing an effective fibre-op- tic network. This would protect peo- Many people joined a demonstration against 5G in Geneva last January. Photo: Keystone New phone masts are necessary to expand 5G coverage across Switzerland. Oppo- nents are up in arms. Photo: Keystone