Telecom industry players have disagreed on most of the recommendation made by inter- ministerial committee on radiation from mobile phone and towers for safety of people in the country.

Industry bodies namely COAI, Indian Cellular Association, GSM Association have expressed their disagreement to government's recommendation on reducing specific absorption rate (SAR) to 1.6 watt per kilogram averaged over six minutes.

This was stated by minister of state for communications and IT Milind Deora in a written reply to Lok Sabha on Wednesday. The business organisation have expressed disagreement to the proposal made by government to lower SAR level which at present is 2 watt per kg.

Countries like Canada and US have already lowered the SAR level to 1.6 watt per kg. Associations such as Mobile manufacturers forum (MMF) of Hong Kong and telecom service provider Vodafone Essar have also disagreed with this proposal.

Similarly, Cellular Operators Association of India, GSM association, Vodafone Essar, MMF are against government's proposal to lower radio frequency power density to one-tenth of the existing level keeping in view the trend adopted by other developed countries.

The committee has recommended that mobile towers should not be installed within the premises of schools and hospitals but MMF, COAI, GSM association and Vodafone Essar have disagreed to the proposal.

These set of players have also disagreed to government's recommendation of using low power transmitters on mobile towers. Out of 16 recommendations made by government, industry players have only agreed to follow five recommendations.

Industry players have agreed to provide SAR data information of the mobile handset on website and handset manual. They have also agreed to the display of radiation level in mobile network frequency range and providing guide on radiation to customers. The associations also commonly agreed on conducting long-term scientific research related to health aspect due to radiation exposure in India.