China cellphone makers face huge bill from radiation law
By Jonah Greenberg
Friday May 24, 12:56 PM
sg.news.yahoo.com
BEIJING (Reuters) - China may impose the world's toughest mobile phone radiation standards due to fears of health risks, telecoms officials said on Friday, threatening global cellphone makers with an expensive bill in their biggest market.
The country is mulling strict standards that would cap handset radiation emissions at half the levels allowed overseas, which the officials said could cost the industry billions of dollars to adjust equipment.
"If they set the standard that high, then handset makers would have to make changes to their operations ranging from R&D all the way to production," said Chen Yujian, director of the China Mobile Communications Association.
Chen said it could cost cellphone makers hundreds of millions of dollars. Industry officials said the move could hit local network operators harder, costing them $2.4 billion.
"It's not just a problem for us, it's a problem for the whole industry, including domestic vendors as well," said David Hartley, Nokia's top mobile phone executive in China.
Late last year, a government committee in charge of setting China's first cellphone safety standard aired ideas that were more conservative than most had expected, Chen said this week.
Explosive growth in mobile phones around the world has increased public debate over possible risks linked to the devices, although most authoritative studies have not concluded that regular users risk brain damage. |
