Raids carried out by the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in South Mumbai over the last couple of days has led to the removal of 68 illegal mobile signal boosters. With this development, the DoT has ordered/asked the e-commerce websites to remove the listings of mobile signal boosters with immediate effect. The DoT said it conducted multiple raids on the back of receiving poor network coverage complaints from the users in South Mumbai. The Wireless Monitoring Organisation of telecom department carried out these raids. The DoT has been actively inspecting in various locations for illegal use of mobile signal boosters. In November 2020, the DoT uncovered 33 illegal signal boosters used by individuals to boost their mobile connectivity in New Delhi.
DoT Issues Order to E-Commerce Website for Removing Signal Booster Listings
As we are aware of already, mobile signal boosters reduce the overall service quality provided by a telecom operator. An official statement from DoT said mobile network boosters are becoming a major reason for poor service quality from telcos. This is the reason behind the DoT asking e-commerce websites to pull down the listings of signal boosters. "Online platforms have also been issued notices to remove listings of illegal repeaters from their website and such companies have responded positively," said Amit Gautam, part of Wireless Monitoring Organisation. This news is first reported by Press Trust of India.
The Wireless Monitoring Organisation has conducted raids on December 22 and 23 in South Mumbai's LT Marg, Masjid Bunder, Bhoiwada, Zaveri Bazar, Kolsa Street, Nagdevi Street, Abdul Rahman Street, Narayan Dhuru Street and Sarang Street. Similarly, it also conducted raids across Agra and Mathura as well.
At the beginning of November 2020, the Wireless Monitoring Organisation conducted inspections in New Delhi during which it brought down 33 illegal repeaters. So far, 68 illegal mobile signal boosters were brought down, and the most interesting part is the devices were made in China with no safety standard mark. Since using mobile signal boosters is illegal in India, the DoT is taking every step to uncovering these repeaters.
Furthermore, Amit Gautam said the DoT would take legal action against the vendors who are selling this illegal equipment in India. "Our department has taken a very serious view on the installation of illegal repeaters as it has become a major obstruction in providing quality telecom services and clean spectrum," he added.
The DoT also highlighted that the usage of mobile signal boosters is leading to major call drops and lower data speeds on telecom networks. Due to the installation of these network repeaters, other customers of telcos are registering complaints of poor network quality.
