Telcos camoflage mobile towers

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association has released a report recommending that telcos use fake chimneys, palm trees, church crosses, steeples and clock towers incorporated into their design for mobile phone towers.

The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association has released a report recommending that telcos use fake chimneys, palm trees, church crosses, steeples and clock towers incorporated into their design for mobile phone towers, in order to mask the unsightly antennas from view and disguise them from members of the community who may be opposed to the erection of a tower in their street.

The deceptive new designs, along with laws that allow many antennas to be installed without council approval, mean thousands are being erected without public knowledge.

According to reports in the Daily Telegraph, residents of Hornsby Heights in Sydney’s north are fighting a proposal that has seen 30m light poles appearing in a local park weeks before Telstra announced plans to install an antenna on them.

The tower is opposed by hundreds of parents and residents concerned about the impact of long-term radiation on kids at Hornsby North Public School, less than 100m away.

“I am not going to send my kids to the school if the tower is built,” local mum Lara Hibbard, who is leading the opposition, said. “There is just so much research that concerns me about the potential health impacts.

Telstra maintains that they have consulted with local councils on all cases where an antenna may have impact on local community.

Source: Daily Telegraph

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