How a little-known rule could alter your neighborhood and endanger your health.

The federal government has ensured that 5G can come to your neighborhood whether you like it or not. A recent rule change allows the telecoms industry to turn consenting private residences into cell towers, endangering the health of the neighborhood. The only way to fight back is to talk to neighbors who may be considering adding an antenna to their house to inform them of the facts that industry is conveniently leaving out.

Our previous coverage provides more background on the OTARD rule, an acronym for “over the air reception device.” Originally, the rule prohibited local municipalities from restricting the installation of satellite dish antennas and other antennas on private residences for reception of TV signals; it didn’t apply to devices that also transmit signals. The FCC recently implemented changes to the rule that allows industry to install wireless transmitting antennas on private homes; and since this would be done on private property, it circumvents the need for companies to meet local zoning and environmental requirements. There is also no requirement to notify neighboring property owners. The OTARD rule has thus been changed from a pro-consumer rule to a pro-industry rule.

Telecom companies are now reportedly going around neighborhoods with deceptive offers like: “Earn $600 – Get paid for doing nothing while helping your community. Be the first person to provide Internet of Things coverage in your neighborhood.”

For some, this may be a tempting offer. Industry may even offer benefits like free internet…but they may also charge you for the electricity used by the antenna. We just don’t know. But it is certain that wireless companies are not telling property owners that they could be held liable if their neighbors experience negative health effects due to the radiation coming from these antennas.

While the telecoms industry has insisted for decades that cell phones, and now 5G networks, are completely safe, there are mountains of evidence to suggest otherwise. We’ve covered a lot of this evidence in previous articles linking EMF radiation to altered metabolism, cancer, cardiovascular disease, DNA damage, impaired sperm function, cognitive impairment, neurological damage, and many more health conditions.

For these reasons, insurers rank 5G EMF radiation as “high risk,” and due to these risks, most insurance plans include an “electromagnetic field exclusion”—that is, insurance plans do not cover injuries related to wireless radiation. Telecoms cannot offer homeowners insurance against liability from the antenna causing physical harm to others because this insurance doesn’t exist.

Unless immediate action is taken, we will be exposed to radiation generated by wireless devices on an unprecedented scale. Especially concerning is that 5G networks that are being rolled out use short millimeter waves, which cannot travel as far as longer waves. This means that more “small cell” towers are needed to create a network, which is why the telecoms industry needs to turn private homes into cell towers. Some neighborhoods would see dozens of small cells installed, all of them emitting microwave radiation. These towers will also emit the lower 4G frequencies, since 5G rollout is still ongoing.

There are particular dangers with 5G networks. We’ve pointed out that Israeli researchers found that our sweat ducts act as antennas for millimeter waves, meaning we would absorb more of this energy into our bodies. Millimeter wavelengths are also used in crowd control systems, making people caught in the high-powered millimeter wave feel like their skin is on fire. No independent research has confirmed the safety of 5G networks.

The US government’s own National Toxicology Program released the results of a $30 million, ten-year project looking into the link between cell phones and cancer. It concluded that “there is clear evidence that male rats exposed to high levels of radiofrequency radiation (RFR) like that used in 2G and 3G cell phones developed cancerous heart tumors.” Again, 5G networks dramatically increase these exposures due to the increased number of “small cells” which will blanket neighborhoods with EMF radiation.

An additional issue is that it’s nearly impossible to effectively sue the wireless companies themselves. A close look at city and municipal contracts shows that it isn’t Verizon, for example, doing business, but a smaller LLC that is created by Verizon to do business in a particular location. This insulates Verizon from being liable for huge amounts in damages. If a lawsuit is successful, you’re raiding the coffers of a “Verizon New York, Inc.” or a smaller company “doing business as” Verizon. ANH is, however, joining Safe Technology Minnesota in submitting an amicus brief in support of Children’s Health Defense’s lawsuit challenging the FCC for adopting the OTARD rule changes.

A better strategy is to engage with neighbors considering telecoms offer of satellite installation and asking questions: are they aware that insurance against health effects from EMF radiation doesn’t exist? If a neighbor, or neighbors’ children, get sick from the radiation emanating from the antenna on their house, can they afford a legal defense? Are they aware of the myriad health dangers associated with EMF radiation? Are they on the hook for the electricity taken up by the antenna? Perhaps proactive action to discuss the issue with neighbors before the industry makes the offer can inoculate neighborhoods from industry propaganda. Friendly but frank conversations about this issue may be the only way to prevent your neighborhood from being blanketed with EMF.