DoT Conduct Raids In Mumbai & Thane, Recover Illegal Boosters Causing Interference In Mobile Networks

The Wireless Monitoring Organization (WMO) of the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) along with the Telecom Operators had conducted the raids in various parts of Thane on Wednesday. The purpose of this raid was to check availability of illegal boosters, antenna’s, which are sold illegally and cause grave interference in the mobile network of telecom service providers.

DoT raid unravels illegal network supply in Mumbai and Thane

According to the DoT officials, the raid was led by Deputy Director, DoT, Prakash Sonkamble. During the raid by WMO at a shop at GB Road, Thane (W), 180 Antennas and 89 networks boosters, being supplied illegally in various parts of Mumbai and Thane was recovered.

Telecom Operators have been consistently raising their concern in this regard. As per the Indian Telegraph Act and Indian Wireless Telegraphy Act use of such wideband signal boosters is illegal and heavy penalty can be imposed by WMO, officials said.

DoT officials explain the hazardous impact of using illegal networks

The illegal use of such devices lead to the degradation of telecom services instead of solving signal issues. In simple words, using mobile signal boosters is like having illegal electricity or water supply connection from the main supply, which leads to improper distribution for others who are paying for the service, officials said.

"Telecom Operators invest heavily in acquiring spectrum for better customer experience, but the quality of services takes significant hit because of these boosters. It interferes with the airwaves making it capable of distorting mobile signal for other customers in the vicinity of the booster. These devices are the main reasons for network issues like call drops and low data speeds. On the other hand, lot of hardships are also faced by the customers such as intermittent fluctuations, call drops, call failure, high latency and interference," said representative of a telecom operator company.