Last checked at 
AMSTERDAM, April 11 (Reuters) - Several Dutch cellular
broadcasting towers have been damaged by arson or sabotage in
the past week by opponents of a rollout of a new 5G
telecommunications network, newspaper De Telegraaf reported on
Saturday.
The paper said there have been 4 such incidents in the past
week, and cited the director of an industry group that oversees
placement of cell towers in the country, The Monet Foundation.
The Telegraaf reported that arsonists had left an anti-5G
slogan spray-painted at the scene of one attack.
A range of groups in the Netherlands have been opposed to
the advent of 5G for some time, mostly over concerns that
radiowaves could damage human health. Others fear the technology
could infringe privacy.
In a statement on its website, the Dutch government's
Security and Counter-Terrorism (NCTV) said it had registered
"various incidents" around broadcasting masts in the past week,
including arson and sabotage, and that opposition to the 5G
rollout is a possible cause.
"This is a concerning development," it said. "Disruption of
broadcasting masts...can have consequences for the coverage of
the telecommunications network and reachability of emergency
services."
It noted that similar attacks have been occurring recently
in Britain.
British ministers last week dismissed a theory that linked
5G masts to the spread of the novel coronavirus as dangerous
"fake news" and completely false.
Major telecommunications providers in the Netherlands are in
a testing phase and have not yet begun any nationwide rollout of
5G pending a spectrum auction due to conclude in June.
(Reporting by Toby Sterling; Editing by Toby Chopra)
