Several Dutch transmission towers have been damaged in the past week by arson or sabotage by opponents of a rollout of a new 5G telecommunication network, De Telegraaf reported on Saturday. The newspaper said there have been 4 such incidents in the past week and cited the director of an industry group overseeing the placement of cell towers in the country, The Monet Foundation.
De Telegraaf reported that arsonists had sprayed an anti-5G slogan in one place. A large number of groups in the Netherlands have long opposed the arrival of 5G, mainly because of concerns that radio waves may damage human health. Others fear that the technology may violate privacy.
In a statement on its website, the Dutch government said it had registered “several incidents” around cell towers, including arson and sabotage, over the past week and that opposition to the rollout of 5G is a possible cause. # & # 39; This is a worrying development & # 39 ;, he said. “Disruption of broadcasting masts … could have consequences for the telecommunications network and the accessibility of emergency services.”
It noted that similar attacks have recently taken place in Britain. British ministers last week rejected a theory that linked 5G masts to the spread of the new coronavirus as dangerous & # 39; fake news & # 39; and completely false.
Major telecom providers in the Netherlands are in a testing phase and have not yet started rolling out 5G nationwide pending a spectrum auction to be completed in June.
(This story has not been edited by staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
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