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Activists protest as Ma visits WiMAX Expo

An environmental group protested outside the WiMAX Expo over the potential health impact of electromagnetic radiation as President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) visited the trade show at the Taipei World Trade Center.

Ma, who took pride in his efforts to boost wireless Internet service in Taipei during his two terms as mayor, pledged to use Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) technology to bridge the digital divide between urban and rural areas.

Over the past three years the government has pumped more than NT$20 billion (US$647.5 million) into developing WiMAX and opened WiMAX frequencies to six operators.

But environmentalists yesterday urged more caution, saying electromagnetic radiation linked to WiMAX technology may have a negative impact on human health.

“WiMAX is a policy mistake,” Chen Jiau-hua (陳椒華), president of the Taiwan Electromagnetic Radiation Hazard Protection and Control Association, shouted before Ma left Exhibition Hall II of the trade center.

Chen, a professor at the Chia Nan University of Pharmacy and Science, said the government should think twice about boosting WiMAX technology because electric and magnetic fields from power lines, wiring and appliances are harmful to human health.

She cited an international study that found exposure to electromagnetic radiation may cause cancer and was likely responsible for an increase in childhood leukemia, although more research was necessary to establish the link.

Chen’s association has called on the legislature to pass a law banning the installment of wireless antennas in residential areas or near school campuses.

Mike Lin (林智清), who works for the Taipei Computer Association (TCA, 台北市電腦公會), dismissed the health fears, saying that electromagnetic radiation associated with WiMAX is lower than that for mobile phones. He said the National Communications Commission was of the same opinion.

WiMAX can transmit wireless data at high speed over long distances for computers or mobile phones. The wireless Internet service currently in use cannot maintain normal operations if a laptop is being used in a vehicle traveling at a speed of more than 50kph, but WiMAX chipsets enable laptops to remain connected to the Internet while moving as fast as 80kph.


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