ARPANSA - Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency

The results are expressed either in units of milliwatts per square metre (mW/m²) or as a percentage of the exposure limit. One milliwatt per square metre is equal to one thousandth of a watt per square metre (i.e. 1 mW/m² = 0.001 W/m²). To convert the results to a percentage of the relevant exposure limit, divide the value by the limit and multiply by one hundred. For clarity of presentation the results are always reported to three decimal places. However, this is not intended to indicate that the results are accurate to this level of precision.

There are two headline results reported for each base station. The first is the highest combined level of RF EME coming from this particular base station found at the five locations visited around the site. This value is the expected maximum possible level due to the equipment installed at that base station and is also reported in the summary results table. The second headline value is the highest measured level of RF EME from all base stations found at Location 1.

There are also two tables of results for each site. These tables show a range (smallest – largest) of measured values, full power values and percentages of the limit. The expression < 0.001 is used to indicate that a value is less than 0.001 mW/m². In cases where the maximum value is less than 0.001 mW/m² no lower end of the range is specified.

Table 1 lists the range of RF EME values from the services present at the site measured at the location with the highest average value. See following for details.

Table 2 lists the range of RF EME values for each of the mobile phone downlink bands measured at location 1. See following for details.

Table 1

The first result table lists the range of RF EME values from the services present at this site measured at the location with the highest average value.

1. The network operators present and the services they provide at this base station are listed here. In the example above there are four different services provided by four different operators. The background colour is used to indicate in which frequency band the service is operating.

2. The location number indicates where the highest average value for each particular service was measured. In the example above: for Optus GSM900, Telstra UMTS and for the combined output from all services this was location 1, for Vodafone GSM1800 it was location 3 and for 3GIS UMTS it was location 4.

3. The measured range of control channel or pilot signal values is shown in the Low Power column. These values are independent of the number of calls being made at the time of the measurements. They can be considered to be the minimum level of RF EME present at the location when no calls are being made via this base station.

4. The full power value is calculated by multiplying the measured values by a factor to give the maximum possible output of that base station. This factor is dependent upon the equipment installed at the base station and is generally somewhere between four and ten. The resulting full power value can be thought of as the maximum level of RF EME present at the location when this base station is handling as many calls as it possibly can.

5. The limit value is the ARPANSA Standard general public exposure limit appropriate for the frequency band in which the service is operating.

6. The full power values are also expressed as a percentage of the limit. These numbers are calculated by dividing the full power value by the applicable limit and then multiplying by one hundred.

7. The final row of the table lists the RF EME levels for all services combined. The location number indicates where the highest average value for the combined services was measured. The range of measured and full power values of all services combined at this location is given in units of mW/m² along with the range of full power values as a percentage of the limits.

Table 2

The second result table lists the range of RF EME values for each of the mobile phone downlink bands measured at location 1. These values can not be extrapolated to the full power condition because all nearby base stations contribute to these measured signals. (In order to perform the extrapolation it is necessary to know which base station has transmitted which signals.)

1. For every base station site measurements are taken at location 1 of the RF EME levels in all four mobile phone downlink bands. Each frequency band is assigned a different background colour in the table.

2. The services that operate in each of the frequency bands are listed here. The background colour is used to indicate the frequency band in which the services operate.

3. The measured range of RF EME values is shown in this column. These values include the stable control channel or pilot signals and variable traffic signals present at the time of the measurements. They can be thought of as typical levels of RF EME present at location 1 coming from all nearby base stations.

4. The limit value is the ARPANSA Standard general public exposure limit appropriate for the frequency band in which the services are operating.

5. The measured values are also expressed as a percentage of the limit. These numbers are calculated by dividing the measured value by the applicable limit and then multiplying by one hundred.

6. The final row of the table lists the RF EME levels for all services combined. The range of measured values in all frequency bands for all services combined at location 1 is given in units of mW/m² and as a percentage of the limits.

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