Department of Telecom brings down 140 illegal mobile signal boosters in Delhi

Raids were conducted between February 18 and 24 in several parts of Delhi, including Connaught Place, Hauz Khas and Nehru Place, DoT Wireless Monitoring Organisation Engineer Incharge Devendra Kumar Rai, said.

The wireless technology monitoring group of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) has brought down 140 illegal mobile signal boosters during a week-long raid in the national capital.

Representative Image (HT Photo)

The raids were conducted between February 18 and 24 in several parts of Delhi, including Connaught Place, Hauz Khas and Nehru Place.

"We have conducted awareness campaigns with which people are made aware, not to use illegal mobile signal boosters.

"During the campaign, people voluntarily surrendered and removed 140 mobile signal boosters and reported about improvement in network connectivity in their areas," DoT Wireless Monitoring Organisation Engineer Incharge Devendra Kumar Rai told PTI.

He added that inspection drives and public awareness campaigns were initiated in 2018 under the supervision of R K Saxena, WMO director and head of department, and in 2020, around 400 illegal mobile signal boosters were removed.

"Under the Indian Telegraph Act, 1885, and the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1943, use of such wideband signal boosters is illegal as these causes radio frequency interference into the licensed wireless networks of various telecom service providers and so the wireless users operating under their licensed network," Rai said.

According to industry estimates, there were around 3,000 illegal mobile signal boosters installed in Delhi that were leading to call drops and other network issues.

Telecom operators have frequently raised the issue before DoT to bring down illegal mobile signal boosters as they adversely impact the quality of service.