Jammers in Mangaluru prison tweaked to stop interfering with signals outside, says TCIL

The impact of jammers installed at Mangaluru District Prison has been confined within the premises. Telecom networks of BSNL and other service providers, outside the prison, are functioning normally with stable call connectivity and data speeds, Telecom Consultants India Limited (TCIL), the agency which installed the jammers, has said.

In a letter to Mangaluru Prison Superintendent dated December 6, TCIL Manager (ICT) Gautam wrote that a technical team of the company carried out a detailed inspection on December 3, and implemented necessary optimisation steps.

As a result, mobile signals were fully suppressed, as required, in the prison premises. At the same time, outside the prison, the networks of BSNL, Airtel, Vodafone Idea and Jio were functioning normally with stable call connectivity and data speeds. The District Court, Canara College, Jail School, and nearby localities showed no interference or overshooting from prison jammers.

The jammer parameters have been realigned as per the recommendations of Wireless Monitoring Organisation (WMO). Jammer radiation has been confined within prison limits, and there was no adverse impact on surrounding telecom services. As on December 5, full compliance of recommendations of WMO has been achieved. The prison security and signal suppression standards were fully maintained, and there was no interference with any network of Telecom Service Providers.

Background of complaint

For long, people around the prison have been facing mobile phone network issues because of jammers. Recently, the Mangaluru Bar Association filed a writ petition in this regard in the High Court of Karnataka. The petition will come up for hearing on December 17.

Earlier, in a letter to K.C. Divyashree, Deputy Inspector General (Prisons and Correctional Services), dated November 26, Deepak Kumar Pant, the Engineer (Mon) in the Wireless Monitoring Station of the Department of Telecom, stated: During the monitoring exercise, it was noted that all IMT and Wi-Fi bands were highly suppressed inside the District Prison premises with jammers strength of approximately -70dBm. Further, suppression of the IMT bands (which covers signals of BSNL, Jio, Air Tel and other services providers), and the 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi band was detected from prison entrance up to nearly 900 metres, with jammer signal strength of around -80dBm. Beyond 900 metres and up to 2.5 km, jammer signals were detectable, though weak, at about -100 dBm.

The jammer signals were extending significantly beyond the intended coverage area. The Prisons Department has to get the technical parameters of jammers reassessed and optimised, including the output power and the height and orientation of jammer antennas, Mr. Pant stated.

Ms. Divyashree wrote to TCIL Chief General Manager in New Delhi asking the company to urgently take up corrective measures, and submit a compliance report.