The conspiracies of the wireless network connection 5G being a health concern has been proven false by professionals.

According to Keith Leonhardt, Metronet’s vice president of communications and customer experience, “5G is a wireless mobile technology being implemented by mobile phone service providers. It provides higher speed technology to be able to download and upload information on your devices much faster than 4G.”

Verizon launched the fifth generation broadband in Des Moines last year, placing it in different parts of the city

Des Moines became the 20th city in America to have 5G, according to Verizon’s website tracking all of the different cities carrying the high-speed network connection.

There have been conspiracy theories all over the internet claiming 5G is linked to major health concerns, causing an uproar and leading conspiracy theorists to create movements like “Anti-5G.”

According to the Des Moines Register, there have not been any cases of someone being sick from 5G radiation.

The sales manager at T-Mobile in Ames does not agree with these theories.

“Well, I’ve heard conspiracies that 5G can cause health issues,” the sales manager said. “I do know that when 4G came out, they said the same thing, and no evidence was presented to support that.” 

Brian Hornbuckle, professor of agronomy, disagrees with this logic as well and believes 5G is a wireless network that uses electromagnetic waves to broadcast signals to your cell phone and other devices but not to necessarily make anyone sick.

“So, the way your cell phone works or your computer is you use wireless internet,” Hornbuckle said. “Information is pointing to your computer or smartphone but through what’s called an electromagnetic wave, and that wave is originating or being broadcast at one point, like, on a 5G tower or some other cell phone tower, or a router in your house. Then, your computer or smartphone is able to receive that electromagnetic radiation and decode the information that’s being carried. Electromagnetic radiation is characterized by its wavelength, so one way to think about it is that the wavelength kind of tells you the flavor or kind of radiation, and what 5G is is a new type of radiation that’s being used to give you wireless data.”

Hornbuckle said the only problem with 5G is that it could interfere with GPS signals and satellites that monitor our weather and climate. The T-Mobile sales manager in Ames also said another downfall for 5G is that it may not be available everywhere just yet.

“The only downfall for 5G right now is, for some carriers, is availability, and it’s not where every carrier would like it to be at,” they said. “I know it has been out for like a year now, and it’s not everywhere.”

The sales manager said they are still setting up 5G in other areas and it might be a while until 6G comes out.