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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0986.183 2018-2020 From: Naomi Melamed Sent: Wednesday, July 01, 2020 6:57 PM COUNTY CLERK Subject: 5G Resolution 678-20 � COUNTY OF HAWAII Attachments: RES 678 Draft 01 2018-2020.pdf RECEIVED Time 6:57P111 �l�1 By i.9�F/ Aloha and Mahalo for your support of Resolution 678-2o, Date JUL 0 1 2020 I am Naomi Melamed, testifying for Keep Your Power Hawaii.We have over 3,000 residents that we keep informed on technology issues in Hawaii. I live in Kapaau, Hawaii, with my family. We favor resolution 678-20, as it is protective of Hawaii's community, environment, and public safety. 5G has had zero safely testing, and the industry publicly admitted they have no intention of testing it. _ Telecommunications Act of 1996: Specifically section 47 USC 332 C 7a says that the general rule is, local governments have the power to regulate the placement of wireless facilities. It is most important that they do exercise their power and responsibility to regulate because, although the FCC sets the exposure limits, the FCC does virtually nothing to actually apply or enforce those limits. FCC is a captured agency, says Norm Alster of the Harvard Ethics Department, in the report, Captured Agency: How the Federal Communications Commission Is Dominated by the Industries It Presumably Regulates. The FCC guidelines are higher, by orders of magnitude, than what has proven to cause biological harm in multiple independent, peer-reviewed studies. The FCC uses the same guidelines for radio- frequency radiation adopted in 1996, based upon research from the 198os, far before anything like our current spectrum of 4G, and now 5G was a concept. Hundreds of scientists, doctors, health professionals, congresspeople, and others have formally urged the FCC to update them. The point here is: It is up to our council members to protect the interests of Hawaii residents. We need fast, stable, and sustainable connectivity in Hawaii County. 5G is not the solution for our rural island. We need a secure build-out of fiber optic to meet the needs of our island. Fiber optic is proven safe for human and environmental health, it is "greener" than 5G, faster than 5G, and more secure in terms of privacy issues. I am impressed thus far with the recent push to build out Fiber optic on our island. Our home connects to fiber optic cable through Hawaiian Telcom, and our internet speed is wonderfully fast. We are also able to plug in our cell phones for lightning-fast data download and upload. In addition to fiber to the home, cable and copper can be used from the lines to the home usingexisting g wires. Many people say, "Fiber-optic to the home is too expensive, it doesn't make sense financially." I am afraid that it is not right, but the hidden comparative costs of 5G are very misleading. I will clarify. Remember the saying; you get what you pay for? Fiber is faster than 5G, so why spend billions building out a 5G network? For 5G to operate at its desired capacity,the FCC claims we will need over 800,000 new antennae in the US. That is a four-fold increase from the existing 200,000! Also, we need macro cell sites for every few small cells and over 50,00o satellites. That means our island alone would have thousands more of these antennae. Everyone would live either directly next to or within walking distance of one of them. Does that not warrant a basic safety test before deployment? 5G infrastructure creates unsightly blemishes on our beautiful island. If you look into it, you will find it's build is NOT SMALL! Studies have proven that property values plummet next to such cell towers. Many of the houses around the major towers are for sale at the moment! Would you buy a home next to a tower? Comm. No. ctsi• 183 Ref. To: l)pt. 1 Ref. Date JUL 0 7 20701 Tower operators pay the landowners between 1;000-5,000 dollars rent a month! That is why telecom pushes to use public utility poles to hang small cells, the public rights of way, to put up their antenna and offset their costs, sponsored, essentially,by the people. Along with the push for small cells, the strategy will be "upgrading" all existing cell towers to 5G, but at what cost? 5G requires over double the amount of power that 4G uses. 4G cell site currently employs about 6 kilowatts to power a three-sector,;12-radio antenna.A 5G cell site using massive MIMO technology uses in kilowatts of power.Are Hawaii's utilities ready-for'that energy hog? How would that impact our goal for renewable energy? Over 50,00o satellites are planned for 5G operation. Space X alone has already launched 400. I won't discuss those kinds of numbers here, as it suffices to say that without a doubt, 5G is more expensive than Astronomers warn that with over o 00 o additional (8 times what we fiber by MANY orders of magnitude. 5 have today) satellites in the sky,Astronomy is seriously threatened. That will seriously affect Hawaii's economy. You may be thinking, "They will never achieve 5G, it is not profitable. Not in rural Hawaii,the numbers don't add up, why worry about it?" Former FCC chairman Tom Wheeler holds that "we must reject any notion that the 5G future will be the sole province of urban areas. The 5G revolution will touch all corners of this country." The FCC and telecom are determined. Last year they spent over 90 million in direct lobbying, according to Forbes. It worked, as we see with measures like the 5G Streamline act of 2019 and section 6409(a) of the Spectrum Act of 2012. There are systems in place which aim to subsidize 5G with our tax dollars. Despite Federal acts, cities, and states still hold much of the power in controlling laws and regulations over small cells. Just this month, the FCC considered awarding up to $16 billion in support over ten years for the deployment of broadband services in unserved areas. 5G is the impetus. They are very serious about 5G deployment everywhere. Unless the local government is serious about protecting the people (as industry fails to do safety testing due to insufficient FCC regulations), 5G will be our new normal. We will be the guinea pigs.All in the name of progress, although we already have a better option that is more progressive, and it is fiber optic, SafeG! Safety testing is a big deal. It is costly and time-consuming. Given the research that is already out there on the harmful effects of wireless radiation, why harvest more depressing data? Because we are talking about the health of this planet, this sacred Aina and our children! Short-sighted thinking is unacceptable. Let's face it; many IoT devices are downright unnecessary, smart diapers to tell us when our baby is wet? Sex- hots? Come on! Remember, each new device equals more trash on this planet. Furthermore, I was shocked to find that many useful innovations, such as self-driving cars and telemedicine, DO NOT NEED 5G. Self-driving cars are moving into laser technology. Telemedicine is achievable with wires. There is so much innovation possible with the reinvention of wires, and we desperately need to invest in this direction. We are pro-technology, love it, and use it daily! However,why rush here with regards to 5G? Safety testing is standard for many consumer devices,why hasn't 5G undergone any safety testing? I believe Tom Wheeler, former FCC chairman sums up the FCC's position in his 2016 speech, "Unlike some countries, we do not believe we should spend the next couple of years studying what 5G should be... We won't wait for the standards to be first developed in the sometimes arduous standards-setting process or a government-led activity:"'.> . r,.£ ;� . 2 I would like this resolution to pave the way for a protective ordinance regarding 5G, like other counties in the US. Our organization'looks forward to working with you all on such an ordinance. Maui County is now moving forward with this step with our Keep Your Power Maui chapter. Thank you for supporting this step of the process. I want to thank you for resisting the rush, tabling the At&t small cell discussion as well. We support your efforts. I look forward to seeing you in person next Tuesday and will further testify my overwhelming support of Resolution 678-20. Mahalo for your time and consideration. Naomi Melamed www.keepyourpower.org Sources: www.ehtrust.org www.mdsafetech.org https://www.fcc.gov/news-events/events/2o2o/o6/june-2o2o-open-commission-meeting https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/DOC-364459Atpdf ht .5_ urnntcntcomm.com/2020/02/27/powering-5g-cell-sites-may--rack-up-bigcosts--for-operstors/" haps://transition.fcc.gov/Daily Releases/Daily Business/2o16/dbo62o/DOC-33992oA1.pdf lrttps://www.lightreading.com/mobile/small-cells/fcc-vote-could-cut-5g-small-cell-deployment-costs-for • - us-operators/d/d-id/741661 https://www.nytimes.com/2o19/11/11/science/spacex-starlink-satellites.html Shall we subsidize multi-billion dollar corporations so they can make their fortune off of potentially radiating us with unknown consequences? • Sent with ProtonMail Secure Email. 3