The businessman apparently used his cell phone for approximately 6 hours a day and had done so for the previous 12 years before discovering the tumour. Although the growth was not malignant the report said it posed a significant threat to Mr. Marcolini’s health as it was spreading to a vital artery which carries blood to the brain.

The ruling, which is the first of its kind (and predicted to open the floodgates for compensation claims certainly in Italy if not here in the UK) comes after the World Health Organisation classified mobile phones as ‘possibly carcinogenic’ in 2011, putting them in the same category as petrol exhaust fumes and glass wool.

Not all experts are in agreement with the ruling though with some groups such as the ‘American Cancer Society’ and ‘The National Cancer Institute’ insisting there is still not enough evidence to prove these devices cause tumours. Experts think users exposure to low level microwave radiation, which occurs when calls are made or received, is not high enough to cause harm.

But if you are worried, here are some of the things you can do to minimise any potential risk to yours and your family’s health:

Avoid Contact With The Ear And Head – Although some experts believe the level of microwave radiation is too low to cause damage it’s best to be on the safe side and keep your device away from your head. Use earphones or put your handset on loudspeaker or hands-free as much as possible.

Avoid Prolonged Daily Usage For Voice Calls – Hopefully you don’t spend six hours a day pressing your mobile or cordless phone to your head but if you do, even for a few hours, remember the highest exposure to radiation is when making voice calls so either cut back on voice calls or think about loudspeakers and other accessories.

Send Texts or emails. This increases the distance from the device to the head and decreases the amount of exposure to radiation levels possibly ‘by tenfold’ say the World Health Organisation.

To put it in perspective though – iPhones, smartphones and other handsets still pose less danger to our health than cigarettes, sun-beds and asbestos, which were in the WHO’s top carcinogenic category.  Also, as ‘The Atlantic’ nicely put it, there are far more dangerous things one can do with a mobile phone in the short-term ‘like texting while driving, sexting or throwing your iPhone at someone’s head.’

But what about other places on the body that we keep our handsets – does that make any difference – could they be doing us any long term damage when they ring in our pockets? While there doesn’t appear to be many answers on this right now, probably the best thing when you’re not using your device is to keep it in a bag, rucksack or padded pocket. This also secures the phone from damage, loss or theft.

The new iPhone 5, which was released in late September, is among the few cutting edge devices that are currently ‘4G ready’. But while EE say 4G or 4GEE as they prefer to call it, is “the communications equivalent of the change the jet engine made over steam”, users in the UK haven’t had the opportunity to experience it yet.

Superfast 4G promises lightning speeds that will allow users to download and stream videos and data 5 times faster than 3G. But when the new network is launched, only iPhone users previously on TMobile and Orange will be able to access 4G. Both are owned by EE, so users in the 16 cities across the UK covered by the network will find their account is automatically switched over in coming weeks. .

But what if you’re an iPhone owner who’s signed up to another network, such as Vodafone? Recent news suggests that progress is being made and faster than initially expected.

In an attempt to make 4G accessible to ‘everyone, everywhere’ as quickly as possible, EE have now joined forces with Vodafone, Three, and O2. The four operators have formed a new company called Digital Mobile Spectrum Ltd which should speed up provision of 4G to users on those networks.

According to a statement issued by DMS, Ofcom and the government, the network will initially “be responsible for ensuring that consumers continue to receive clear Freeview TV signals following the roll out of 4G mobile services in the 800MHZ spectrum band from the spring of next year.”

How long it will be before DMS’s service is compatible with the new iPhone is unclear, but hopefully the news is some solace for Vodafone’s unhappier customers who, after signing up for the new iPhone 5, left complaints on consumer sites claiming they’d been mis-sold the product. Customers said they’d been promised their handsets would have 4G connectivity with Vodafone.

Along with the next generation mobile network, EE are also launching their fibre broadband which promises to be up to 10 times faster than current national broadband speeds. But for now and well into next year, if you want to experience the wonders of the 4G LTE cutting edge technology on your new iPhone 5, there seems little option than to move to the new EE network.