Global GCS Connect: 5G - Friend or Foe?

With all the conflicting information and theories in the media, we gathered a panel of 5G experts across the globe to answer our questions! Our Panel: Wahaj Tahir - Director of Wireless RF Engineering at GCI Liberty Inc. – Alaska, US Recently, Wahaj was involved in turning up 5G in GCI’s network while before that, they were busy turning up the first vRAN network for GCI in Alaska. He has spent time working with industry leaders such as Ericsson, LCC, Motorola and Clearwire in the past. His current interests are End to End Network Design, Deployment and Performance Improvements. Ivan Atanasovski - 4G/5G Radio Optimization Consultant at Three - UK Ivan has more than 8 years of experience in the field of Telecommunications with a Master's Degree in Information and Communication Technologies. He is currently working on a 5G rollout project for Three UK. Previous working experience includes working for different vendors on many projects such as network swap, network rollout, network planning and optimization. Besides the knowledge of the previous mobile generations (2G, 3G, 4G), in the last two years he is mostly dedicated to 5G projects in relation to 5G biddings, 5G trainings, 5G Use-cases, and 5G rollout. Dafna Tachover - Senior Attorney & Director of 5G Wireless Harms project of Children's Health Defense - New York, US Dafna is the Director of a non-profit organization chaired by Robert F. Kennedy’s Jr, dedicated to eliminating the epidemic of chronic sickness in children from environmental toxins including wireless radiation. She also founded We Are The Evidence, an advocacy organization for the protection of the rights of the many adults and children who have been injured by wireless technology radiation. Dafna also has a technology background from her service as a Telecommunication and Computers Officer in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) where she was the commander of the computer center of the military headquarter and operations’ center. Dr. Paul Héroux - Professor, Physicist, and Toxicologist - McGill University - Montreal, Canada Dr. Paul Héroux is a physicist with experience in electrical engineering (15 years), and in the health sciences (33 years). His interest lies in health problems connected with electromagnetism. On the occasion of a project linking low-frequency electromagnetic fields to occupational cancers, he was appointed Associate Professor at McGill University's Faculty of Medicine in the Occupational Health program, of which he is the current director. Dr. Paul Héroux currently teaches Toxicology, Hearing Conservation, and Health Effects of Electromagnetic Radiation to Occupational Health and Engineering students at McGill’s Faculty of Medicine. He was hired as a consultant by a number of companies, among which Nortel, Siemens, Bell Canada, and Quebec Cartier Mining. He also served on a committee assessing the potential health effects of 5G radiation in New Hampshire. His most recent work focuses on the utilization of magnetic fields against cancer in humans. Peter Curnow-Ford - Founder & Managing Partner - Viatec Associates - London, UK With 30+ years’ experience in global telecoms and IT, Peter founded Viatec Associates in 2002 to assist organisations with decision making in the cellular, satellite, and wireless landscape. This includes device and handset management, thought leadership, 4G and 5G, spectrum use and acquisition, tower (cell site) development and funding, public safety, transport connectivity, and cellular backhaul including small-cell strategies and mmWave. Peter is a member of the techUK Communication Infrastructure Council, Board Member of TLA 5G WG & the SME & LEP 5G WG (UK5G) and of the UK Fibre Connectivity Forum (UKFCF). (He was Chair of Spectrum Access and Use at the UK Spectrum Policy Forum). He is a regular conference speaker and has chaired several panel sessions at TMT Finance M&A, 5G World, Small Cell World Summit and the Commonwealth Telecommunications Organisation.