The boss of BT has launched an extraordinary intervention after dozens of phone masts and engineers were attacked by ‘mindless idiots’ who think the coronavirus pandemic has been caused by the 5G internet signal.
Philip Jansen, who is recovering after suffering mild symptoms of the virus, has written an impassioned plea to the public to unite against ‘harmful, dangerous misinformation’.
In a lengthy statement prepared for The Mail on Sunday, Jansen reveals the shocking news that 39 BT engineers have been physically or verbally assaulted by members of the public who wrongly believe the new mobile technology triggers coronavirus symptoms.
BT boss Philip Jansen said that those who think the coronavirus pandemic has been caused by the 5G internet signal are ‘mindless idiots’
Some employees at the FTSE 100 telecoms giant – which also owns the UK’s largest mobile network EE – have even had death threats, he said.
Jansen revealed that 18 of BT’s masts are among at least 40 across the country that have been destroyed or damaged as a result of arson. Many of the attacks are understood to have taken place last week.
In the past few days, conspiracy theorists have started wrapping telephone poles in barbed wire to stop engineers doing their jobs, the BT boss said.
He added that most of the masts that have been attacked do not even carry the 5G signal.
Jansen, who joined Britain’s former telecoms monopoly at the start of last year, said: ‘Everything about this is senseless.’
He pointed out that the engineers are ‘Government-designated key workers out – with no small risk to their own health – to ensure that broadband and mobile networks keep working’.
Jansen continued: ‘Without these engineers fixing faults, adding capacity and installing new lines, people lose their connection.
5G conspiracy: These theories include the suggestion that radiation from 5G antennas is causing coronavirus symptoms
‘Now, more than ever, that connection is vital. Whether that’s for home schooling, working from home or ordering food online, losing that connection is unthinkable to millions.
‘If the site that provides coverage to your house gets burned down, it matters.
‘If you can’t call 999 or get through to a lonely parent to check they’re OK, it matters.
‘If your link to family, friends and the outside world when you’re feeling truly isolated, gets destroyed because of a baseless and reckless conspiracy theory, it matters.’
Conspiracy theories that coronavirus is linked to 5G sprang up online about a fortnight ago, but only in the UK do they appear to have led to physical attacks and destruction.
The false theories include the suggestion that radiation from 5G antennas is causing coronavirus symptoms. Others claim Covid-19 is a fabricated virus and merely a cover-up for 5G.
Jansen said the most bizarre theory was a laughable suggestion that the public applause for NHS workers each Thursday at 8pm is an attempt to mask ‘loud beeping’ of 5G networks being tested.
Britain’s Got Talent judge Amanda Holden and Hollywood actors Woody Harrelson and John Cusack are among a host of celebrities who have promoted the conspiracies on social media. Holden claimed last week that she had retweeted an anti-5G post on Twitter in error.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove last week branded the conspiracy claims as ‘dangerous nonsense’. Meanwhile, telecoms watchdog Ofcom issued a statement to ’emphasise that there is no relationship whatsoever between 5G mobile signals and coronavirus’.
Cabinet Office Minister Michael Gove last week branded the conspiracy claims as ‘dangerous nonsense’
But Jansen revealed that the vandalism and assaults have escalated and are threatening public safety. BT is providing connections to Nightingale field hospitals set up to look after Covid-19 patients.
Jansen said: ‘It’s hard to know where to begin to use science, logic or reason to debunk something so devoid of reality.
‘Now, more than ever, the country needs to be united. Listening to the authorities. Trusting the scientists. Staying connected. Instead, the advice of experts is being undermined. Fear is being spread.’
Jansen said small groups on Facebook and instant messaging service WhatsApp were hotbeds for misinformation.
He pointed out that 5G is a radio network like 4G or 3G and it employs ‘the same radio waves that have been safely in use for decades’.
Facebook, YouTube and Google all promised to crack down on the spread of 5G misinformation last week.
Jansen praised his ‘brave, skilled engineers’, and added: ‘This is my team and I will not tolerate them being targeted by a few mindless idiots.’
Read Philip Jansen’s heartfelt plea in full here.
Some links in this article may be affiliate links. If you click on them we may earn a small commission. That helps us fund This Is Money, and keep it free to use. We do not write articles to promote products. We do not allow any commercial relationship to affect our editorial independence.