The global rollout of 5G has spawned wild conspiracy theories, and the coronavirus pandemic was the perfect environment for them to spread.
Four Corners has investigated these claims and examined the science around whether the technology is a threat to our health.
What do the conspiracies claim?
One theory claims 5G’s millimetre wave technology is secretly being developed by governments as a weapon to threaten and control us.
Another conspiracy links 5G to the emergence of COVID-19, claiming coronavirus was deliberately released so 5G can be rolled out without opposition while we’re all in lockdown.
The viral claims have driven believers to hold protests during the pandemic and attack 5G mobile phone towers around the world, including in Australia — despite the fact that all of these theories are demonstrably false.
Communications and Cyber Safety Minister Paul Fletcher told us that behind some of the conspiracies may be hostile governments, “who have a motive to try and create instability and disorder in democracies like Australia.”
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What is 5G?
5G is shorthand for the fifth generation of wireless communications technology.
The first generation was mobile voice calls, 2G brought us text messaging, 3G was about data and smartphones, 4G was optimised for video calls and moving video around. 5G will usher in a world where everything is super-fast and interconnected.
You may have noticed that telcos like Optus, Vodafone and Telstra are already marketing 5G plans.
That will bring us data speeds 10 times that of 4G.
But the real game changer comes early next year when Australia’s telcos will bid for a slice of what’s called millimetre wave spectrum.
Millimetre wave is much higher frequency and promises data speeds more than 100 times faster than 4G.
For example, downloading a full-length HD movie over your wireless connection will take a few seconds rather than many minutes.
Millimetre wave technology is not only faster; there’s also far less lag time — known as latency — between when a signal is sent and the device receiving the signal reacts.
Another application 5G is predicted to be pa