Speaker
Description
Differences in RF-EMF exposure from realistic smartphone usage scenarios becomes more important with the deployment of fifth-generation (5G) mobile networks. Previous studies only investigated legacy technologies or they were limited to measurement results in one country. This study assesses differences in average transmit power of a smartphone between voice calls, WhatsApp voice calls, WhatsApp video calls, and uplink file transfers across Belgium, Switzerland, and France. Measurements at two fixed locations in each of the 115 outdoor microenvironments (MEs), comprising both urban and rural locations, were conducted by a trained researcher with a smartphone that was held at the ear for voice calls and in front of the face for video calls. The exposure from voice calls was found to be the lowest, consistently in each country, with median values of 0.0 dBm (Belgium), -4.3 dBm (France), and -1.7 dBm (Switzerland). This is the first study, comparing uplink transmit powers during different usage scenarios, that involves multiple European countries and includes non-standalone 5G.
