# Macro cell tower (LTE / 5G sector antenna)

> Sector antennas radiate on the order of 1000 W EIRP per sector on the main beam, which is aimed above and away from the tower base — ground-level exposure directly beneath a tower is usually lower than at a few hundred metres away.

- Canonical URL: https://emfbase.com/emitters/cell-tower
- Collection: Sources & emitters
- Record id: `emitters:macro-cell-tower`
- Status: verified
- Last verified: 2026-08-12
- JSON: https://emfbase.com/api/emitters/cell-tower
- Also known as: base station, mobile phone mast, cell site, 5G tower

## Key values

- **Category:** radiofrequency
- **Emission bands:** Low band (600–900 MHz); Mid band (1.7–2.6 GHz); C-band 5G (3.3–4.2 GHz)
- **Environments:** outdoor
- **Transmit power:** 1,000 W EIRP — Regulatory value — legally enforceable — Order-of-magnitude figure for a macro sector. Actual EIRP depends on transmitter power, antenna gain and, for 5G massive-MIMO panels, on beamforming that concentrates power toward active users. [fcc-oet65, arpansa-base-stations]
- **Duty cycle:** Control channels transmit continuously; traffic channels vary with load. 5G beamforming means the maximum only occurs when a beam is pointed at you.

## Field strength by distance

- **50 m:** 31,800 µW/m² — Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 1000 W, d = 50 m — Main-beam free-space value. At the tower base you are usually far below the main beam, where levels are typically 10–100× lower. [fcc-oet65]
- **100 m:** 7,960 µW/m² — Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 1000 W, d = 100 m — Main-beam free-space value. [fcc-oet65]
- **300 m:** 884 µW/m² — Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 1000 W, d = 300 m — Main-beam free-space value. [fcc-oet65]
- **1000 m:** 79.6 µW/m² — Computed estimate — S = EIRP / (4πd²) with EIRP = 1000 W, d = 1000 m — Main-beam free-space value. [fcc-oet65]

## Mitigations, most effective first

- **Establish the actual antenna height, azimuth and downtilt before assuming exposure; look the site up in the FCC ASR database.** — Determines whether a dwelling is in the main beam at all, which changes the estimate by one to two orders of magnitude.
- **Measure indoors with a directional antenna to identify the dominant azimuth, then use window film or shielding paint on that facade only.** — Targets the one surface that matters instead of shielding a whole room.
- **Compare readings against both the regulatory limit and the Swiss installation limit value to understand where you sit.** — Typical measured residential levels near base stations are hundreds of times below regulatory limits.

## Measure with

- Broadband RF power-density meter
- RF spectrum analyser
- Directional antenna (log-periodic or horn)

## Related records

- [Swiss installation limit value for mobile phone antennas](https://emfbase.com/limits/swiss-installation-limit-mobile-antennas): 4–6 V/m at places of sensitive use depending on band — about 100 times lower in power density than ICNIRP's reference level.
- [FCC general population MPE, 300–1500 MHz](https://emfbase.com/limits/fcc-public-power-density-300-1500-mhz): Frequency-dependent limit of f/1500 mW/cm², so the allowance rises with frequency across the low-band and mid-band cellular spectrum.

## Sources

- `fcc-oet65` Federal Communications Commission, Office of Engineering and Technology (1997). *OET Bulletin 65: Evaluating Compliance with FCC Guidelines for Human Exposure to Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields*. https://www.fcc.gov/general/oet-bulletins-line — government, link checked 2026-08-12
- `arpansa-base-stations` Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency. *Mobile phone base stations and health*. https://www.arpansa.gov.au/understanding-radiation/radiation-sources/more-radiation-sources/mobile-phone-base-stations — government, link checked 2026-08-12
- `fcc-asr` Federal Communications Commission. *Antenna Structure Registration (ASR) public access database downloads*. https://www.fcc.gov/wireless/data/public-access-files-database-downloads — government, link checked 2026-08-12
- `itu-fs-relations` International Telecommunication Union. *Free-space path loss and power density relations (ITU-R P.525)*. https://www.itu.int/rec/R-REC-P.525/en — standard, link checked 2026-08-12

Data licence: CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Dataset version 2026.08.1. Retrieved from EMFBase, https://emfbase.com.

This record is reference data, not medical or legal advice. Regulatory limits, scientific guidelines and precautionary values are labelled separately and answer different questions.