There are many myths circulating concerning the new fifth cellular network standard commonly known as 5G that is about to be unveiled in Ghana.
The 5G network has already been unveiled in several African nations. Using 5G in Ghana will be quite beneficial to industries and businesses as well as health and education in Ghana. Before we do that, let us get to know what 5G is first.
5G is the fifth mobile cellular network standard that was developed by 3GPP and unveiled in 2016.
Most countries abroad and some African nations are already using the new 5G. However, it is now set to be introduced in Ghana from September 2024.
The mobile cellular network currently in use in Ghana at the moment is the 4G network which is the predecessor to the new 5G.
However, several myths have been circulating concerning the 5G use and this has made some people get the wrong idea about it.
Due to the importance of the 5G cellular network, it can be quite difficult to separate fact from fiction.
So if you have heard some negative things about 5G such as it being the cause of some illnesses and posing a threat to national security, this article would help you separate the truth from the myths.
We will be debunking some of the myths you may have come across on the internet or heard from some people near you.
5G Myths Debunked
Below are some of the myths you may have heard concerning 5G. Let us take a look at them below.
Myth 1: 5G is just a faster 4G
Some people think that 5G is just a faster 4G but that is not the case. 5G offers users more than just faster internet speeds.
5G comes with enhanced mobile broadband which represents a great improvement in the speed of the previous networks through bandwidth increase.
This will also be the first thing that users benefit from when they start using the 5G network.
Another area in which 5G excels over 4G is latency. The low latency offered by 5G significantly reduces the lag between requesting and receiving information when you are online.
This results in you having instantaneous connections online. This will be great for healthcare and education.
5G also raises the device connectivity number, which is higher than what is on 4G. The increased network capacity allows for massive machine-type communications.
This is essential for the growth of technology. This means that it will not be long before you start seeing driverless cars on the road.
Myth 2: 5G Future Era Here
Although the 5G network is being rolled out in the US and some other nations around the world, the actual potential of the new cellular network standard is yet to be realized.
Some people think that we have already seen all that 5G can do but we have not.
5g can increase virtualization, network slicing, cloud computing as well as automation. It will also be a great support for the IoT as well as the IoS.
The IoS refers to the digital platforms underpinning the new digital economy.
Myth 3: 5G Causes Cancer
This is not true. 5G does not cause this illness or any kind of tumor. The electromagnetic spectrum is divided into two kinds of radiation.
Ionizing radiation can kill people while non-ionizing radiation does not have that ability.
The 5G cellular network uses non-ionizing radio waves. All the frequency waves used for cellular communications are inside the non-ionizing radio waves; these include the 28 gigahertz spectrum and the 39 gigahertz frequencies which have been considered for the 5G millimeter wave.
This is a very small wavelength. The technology used in 5G is also in line with the current Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC) guidelines for exposure. The guidelines state that people can be exposed to radiations between 300 kHz and 100 GHz.
Myth 4: 5G Is Linked To Covid-19
There is some information circulating on the internet that states that 5G is linked to the COVID-19 outbreak that had the majority of the world in lockdown.
The disinformation states that the 5G networks were the ones responsible for the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic.
This disinformation has been spread all over social media. Some conspiracy theorists also spread the falsehood that global elites, which is a term used to refer to extremely wealthy people who hold high positions in the world, were the ones who used the 5G networks to spread the COVID-19 virus around the world.
Some of these theories state that 5G causes symptoms of COVID-19. Another theory also states that 5G is responsible for the weakening of the immune system, thereby making more people contract the virus.
However, these are not true. There is no link between the COVID-19 pandemic and 5G in the world.
Myth 5: 5G Can Be Weaponized
Whenever a new mobile technology is unveiled, it is accompanied by concerns about the effect and what it can be used for negatively.
This thing happened when 4G was initially introduced and the same thing is now happening with 5G unveiling.
However, it does not seem likely that people will get any kind of shock from 5G high cell towers.
It is not hard at all that people think that 5G may be turned into a weapon since it uses the same millimeter waves used by the US Army.
This is the same as a prototype device used by the military in the United States for crowd control. However, the bottom line here is that 5G cannot be weaponized as some people think.
Myth 6: 5G Will Replace 4G
This is not true. 5G did not come to replace the 4G network. 5G is its standalone network which was built on top of 4G lines that are in place already.
This means that people can use their 4G devices in areas where 5G is available. Although people will indeed need to have 5G phones before they can get access to the 5G network, people who are using 4G phones may also access quicker internet speed as the 5G network gets rolled out around the country.
Myth 7: 5G will kill tower birds
Another myth circulating is that 5G will kill tower birds. This unconfirmed myth was made public by conspiracy theorists who claimed that a 5G antenna, while testing, caused the death of a flock of birds.
This myth has been debunked by the Audubon Society.
The 5G network will not kill tower birds; the radio wave emissions that come from the radio antennae, including cell phone towers that are above 10 megahertz do not cause any form of harm to birds.
Although some researchers have offered the theory that cell frequencies could change the way migrating birds navigate. The researchers however noted that the cell frequencies were not harmful to the birds.
Conclusion
These myths about 5G have been circulating on the internet. As we can see in this article, these myths do not hold any truth.
These myths normally spring up from conspiracy theorists whenever a new wireless cellular network is about to be introduced.
After reading this article, we are sure that you are now aware of all these myths and not facts.
5G is not responsible for any illnesses and it does not kill tower birds. It also did not cause the coronavirus pandemic.
