French govt on defensive after Macron’s 5G ‘Amish’ jibe

Paris: French officials insisted Wednesday that there was no reason to halt the country’s rollout of next-generation 5G mobile telecom networks, following a barrage of criticism from environmental and left-wing lawmakers citing potential health risks.

The debate flared after some 70 lawmakers signed an open letter last weekend urging a moratorium on new 5G antennas, ahead of a key auction of radio frequencies for faster networks this month.

The signatories included Yannick Jadot, a likely Greens rival to President Emmanuel Macron for the 2020 presidential vote.

Macron, eager to cast France as a start-up nation embracing cutting-edge technologies, threw oil on the fire by deriding 5G opponents as wanting to impose “the Amish model.”