The Faraskhana police seized a total of 26 mobile network boosters and deactivated 27 by cutting feeder joints during a raid.
A total of nine notices were served in the Faraskhana police jurisdiction recently. The action was taken following complaints by Wireless Monitoring Organization (WMO), Department of Telecom (DoT) along with a joint team from the local administration and mobile operators, which raided the peth areas of the city where the raiding team took down illegal mobile signal repeaters installed in homes, shops, and other commercial establishments.
The Wireless Monitoring Organization (WMO), Department of Telecom (DoT) along with a joint team from the district administration and mobile operators raided the peth areas of Pune under the direction of IES (Indian Engineering Service) officer Amit Gautam, of DoT along with Gajendra Mewara, Rishabh Acharya, and RN Lahadke attached to WMO, DoT.
According to the police, action was also taken against individuals who installed them.
Amit Gautam, said, “We have maintained a sustained drive against illegal boosters and in 2020 removed approximately 500 of them. We have also conducted awareness campaigns against illegal boosters which lead to call drops and lowering of mobile network connectivity. We started 2021 on a strong note and have already acted against 580 such devices in the first quarter of the current year. We advise people not to use any illegal repeaters as they are not only legally correct, but morally I believe the prolonged influence of such radiation beyond permissible level might cause health issues, research is still going on regarding the effect of radiation on health and installing a mobile signal booster is like installing a mobile tower on the head that radiates multiple times higher than what BTS tower radiates. Further, these devices are disrupting mobile networks to a greater extent.”
Illegal mobile signal repeaters have become a major nuisance and are one of the biggest reasons for customers facing network issues like call drops and low data speeds.
{{/usCountry}}Illegal mobile signal repeaters have become a major nuisance and are one of the biggest reasons for customers facing network issues like call drops and low data speeds.
{{/usCountry}}These illegal repeaters are installed by individuals, establishments at homes, offices, PG guest houses to boost mobile signals.
This illegal equipment interferes with all mobile networks, impact signal quality and degrades network experience in the entire area.
Mobile operators invest heavily in the acquisition of spectrum and network rollout to enhance the customer experience; however, illegal boosters cause interference with the mobile network.
Authorities were called to crack down on these installations and take strict action.
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According to the Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO) of DoT, installation, possession, or selling of illegal repeater is a punishable offence as per the Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act, 1933 and Indian Telegraph Act, 1885. Heavy fines may be imposed on owners of several premises who have installed these illegal repeaters.