Brussels has among the strictest telecom radiation regulations of the world (6 volts per meter).
Last year, BIPT recommended increasing of these limits in order to allow the region to capitalize on 5G. After a long discussion, ministers approved an increase up to 9 v/m indoor and 14.5 v/m outdoor.
The Environment Minister of Belgium, Celine Fremault, expressed concerns that massive MIMO antennas aren’t technically able to measure the amount of radiation emitted. This can cause a problem due to staying in the legal framework because of the strict regulative on measuring radiation.
Fremault stated that 5G installations will be put on hold until the point when the amount of radiation can be properly measured because she is certain in not allowing her people to be part of an experiment, or guinea pigs, as she states.
But, she noted that she actually recognizes the benefits of 5G installation such as mobility, and advanced health technologies and methods (remote surgeries).
This attitude towards 5G technology creates hard struggles for the Belgian operators. Ministers cannot reach the agreement, they are not allowing to leave this technology unsupervised, and Belgian operators face huge challenges when it comes to 5G.
And while Ministers continuously fail to reach the agreement on auctioning of 5G licenses, there was alleged information that the auction will be put on hold until 2020 and even after that. They have to reach a consensus on how the proceeds from the auction will be allocated. The government expects to raise 680 million dollars from the auction.