The German Mobile Telecommunication Research Programme was initiated by the Federal Ministry for the Environment (BMU) and the Federal Office for Radiation Protection (BfS). The Programme had a total budget of  17 million Euro, which was equally shared by the Federal Ministry for the Environment and the telecommunication network operators.

In spite of their contribution to the Programme’s funds, the German network operators were not entitled to decide on the selection of the research projects to be conducted nor to participate in the evaluation of the research results. The German Mobile Telecommunication Research Programme was exclusively coordinated and implemented by BfS.

54 research projects on the topic of “Mobile Telecommunication”

The Programme started in 2002 and was accomplished in 2008. It comprised 54 research projects on the topic of “Mobile Telecommunication” including the fields of “Biology”, “Dosimetry”, “Epidemiology”, and “Risk Communication”. The researchers deliberately investigated a broad frequency range which in some cases exceeded the currently used GSM and UMTS frequency ranges.

The objective was to investigate scientifically demonstrable fundamental biological effects and mechanisms and to assess their relevance for people’s health taking account of international research results. The Programme also aimed at finding potential causes of electrosensitivity. It was intended to obtain results which are of importance to the entire field of telecommunications and which should make it possible to draw conclusions about health risks of future technological developments. This was accomplished by expert workshops in which the researchers discussed and evaluated their results with renowned scientists at international level. BfS and SSK presented their assessments of the results obtained from the German Mobile Telecommunication Research Programme to the general public in June 2008.

Further information

Please find more detailed information on the German Mobile Telecommunication Research Programme, the individual research projects conducted within the Programme and the final report  (including an English summary) on the Programme’s internet portal at
http://www.emf-forschungsprogramm.de