ITU-T Recommendations

RF-EMF exposure limits have become a critical concern for further deployment of wireless networks, especially in countries, regions and even specific cities where RF-EMF limits are significantly stricter than the ICNIRP or IEEE guidelines.

This problem currently affects several countries such as China, India, Poland, Russia, Italy, Switzerland, regions like Brussels or cities like Paris.

This Supplement provides an overview of some of the challenges faced by countries, regions and cities which are about to deploy 4G or 5G infrastructures. This Supplement provides information on a simulation on the impact of RF‑EMF limits that was carried out in Poland as an example of a wider phenomenon, which is applicable to several other countries, which have set limits stricter than those contained in the ICNIRP or IEEE guidelines.

The result of the simulation indicates that where RF-EMF limits are stricter than ICNIRP or IEEE guidelines, the network capacity buildout (both 4G and 5G) might be severely constrained and might not allow to address the growing data traffic demand and to launch new services on existing mobile networks.