AMTA Snapshot Edition 78

New Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman to address AMTA Members’ Forum The new Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman has accepted an invitation to speak at an AMTA Members’ Forum in Sydney on October 18.

AMTA Members support annual charity sailing day on Sydney Harbour AMTA Members, including Optus, Vodafone and Nokia, will be hoping for a fair breeze and smooth seas in the Annual Telco Regatta next month. AMTA has endorsed the annual charity sailing event to be held in Sydney on Thursday, October 4, 2007.

Mobilemuster & MCF on display at the Local Council Sustainable Development Forum Over 400 local government officers involved in developing sustainable strategies from across Australia will be meeting in Melbourne from the 11 & 12 September. The conference will focus on reducing the carbon footprint, water sustainability and developments in the built environment in local government areas. Delegates will learn about outstanding environmental initiatives by Australian local governments as well as see some of the latest technologies and services available to help their council progress their sustainability plans.

Use of mobiles in hospitals brings benefits to patients, doctors and visitors There is no reason for a blanket ban on mobile phones in hospitals because the benefits from their use outweigh the very low risks, the Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association (AMTA) told the Herald Sun newspaper yesterday.

Industry has introduced a range of tools to help young people gain affordable access to mobile phones The mobile telecommunications industry has introduced a range of tools to help young people gain affordable access to mobile phones, AMTA told the Advertiser newspaper in Adelaide this week.

False comparison between driving while using a mobile phone and driving while drunk fails to assist road safety The Australian Mobile Telecommunications Association has written to the Sunday Canberra Times expressing concern about false comparisons between mobile phone use while driving and drunken driving.

GSMA comments on BioInitiative’s selective review of existing EMF research The GSM Association’s Environment Insider reports this week that an international working group of scientists, researchers and public health policy professionals (the BioInitiative Working Group) has released its report on electromagnetic fields (EMF) and health. They document serious scientific concerns about current limits regulating how much EMF is allowable from power lines, cell phones, and many other sources of EMF exposure in daily life. The report concludes that the existing standards for public safety are inadequate to protect public health.

No evidence of mobile phone health risk – exhaustive Finnish study findings An exhaustive series of Finnish studies have found no evidence that electromagnetic radiation from mobile phones poses a health risk, Finnish media reported on Tuesday.