Over the past few years the increase in popularity of mobile phones has increased dramatically. The public is becoming more and more dependent on these devices as a way of communicating. The local publics' reliance on these devices is evident through the number of mobile phone shops found at our local shopping centre, the Tea Tree Plaza. There are nine mobile phone shops spread throughout the centre. Some services even have more than two shops in this one shopping centre.
One of the most obvious sources of electromagnetic radiation (EMR) in the environment is from mobile phone base stations. In the several decades since mobile telephony transformed interpersonal communications, thousands of these structures have been erected throughout this country.
In addition to their concerns about the aesthetic impact of base stations, communities have questioned their effects on health. The levels of radiation emitted by base stations are much lower than for a mobile phone and very much lower than those allowed by Australian standards and are therefore considered by some agencies to be safe. However, uncertainty about the long-term impacts of even low levels of radiation and concern about the adequacy of Australian standards to protect public health have generated worries about their impacts. .
In the early days of mobile telephony base stations were usually tall structures servicing large areas (called cells). Legislation granted the phone companies immunity from council and state government regulations when they were erecting these towers. In 1997 the Federal Government introduced the Telecommunications Act which obliged carriers to comply with state and local government regulations . In recent times there is now a trend towards smaller antennas servicing smaller cells to comply with the radiation output of these base stations.
Base stations are radio transmitters and receivers, which form an essential link in mobile phone communications.