In 2016, RATEL started a project for continuous monitoring of electromagnetic field levels at locations of interest – EMF RATEL. Earlier that year, a Feasibility study on the construction of the sensor network for the monitoring of electromagnetic field levels was elaborated, available at https://www.ratel.rs/sr/page/studije-iz-oblasti-elektronskih-komunikacija. Further on, the project realization begins in 2017, with installation of first sensors in Belgrade, Niš and Novi Sad, completing the system, in December 2017, of 9 sensors in the mentioned cities. In December 2019, the sensor network was expanded to 11 different cities on the total of 26 locations. The locations were defined as areas of increased sensitivity, namely: schools, hospitals, nurseries and kindergartens, maternity hospitals, student dormitories, playgrounds and similar. After the two years of system implementation, RATEL in 2018 enabled public access to the data and results, in order to alleviate concerns of the public over the possible risks. The obtained results are now available to everyone, in a comprehensible format, and can be found at the following link: https://data.gov.rs/sr/datasets/rezultati-kontinualnog-merenja-nivoa-elektrichnog-polja-na-lokatsijama-od-interesa/. There were 73 sensors in the network in December 2020, whereas in November 2021, the network grew to 88 sensors in 39 Serbian cities.

The EMF RATEL project promotion was additionally enhanced by the participation in conferences, scientific gatherings, workshops etc. For educational purposes, papers have been written, that are also publicly available on the EMF specialized portion of the website: https://emf.ratel.rs/eng/ispitivanja-em-polja. Accordingly, it is notable to mention that the EMF RATEL project became globally visible as a part of the ITU recommendation K.83, which offers detailed guidelines on how to perform long term EMF measurements at locations of interest. Our project was included in the annex of the recommendation as the first document describing a network of sensors providing to the public information about electromagnetic field levels at measurement locations. Furthermore, in November 2021, a symposium in Munich was held, organized by the Federal Office for Radiation Protection of Germany. The Symposium was also attended by RATEL’s longtime partner in this project, the Faculty of Technical Sciences of Novi Sad, which presented activities related to the EMF monitoring in the Republic of Serbia, with a special accent on the EMF RATEL project. In addition, the National Telecommunications Institute, in collaboration with the Chancellery of the Prime Minister of Poland, on 1-2 December 2021, organized the VI International EMF Conference where RATEL’s representative, beside active participation in a panel discussion with eminent experts, delivered a lecture entitled Credibility of Serbian System for continuous monitoring of electromagnetic field levels”. Does it influence public opinion regarding EMF?

RATEL’s partners in this project are the Faculty of Technical Sciences in Novi Sad, company Ibis Instruments and mobile operators in the Republic of Serbia. RATEL will continue to develop this project over the next year, when another 20 EMF sensors are expected to be installed, thereby surpassing the number of 100 planned sensors in the existing EMF system.