158/04
23 November 2004
Time for the States to Look for Alternatives to Mobile Phone Jammers in Prisons
State and Territory Governments should abandon their push for mobile phone jammers in prisons and work with the Australian Government to find an appropriate technical solution to the illegal use of mobile phones by prison inmates, Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, Senator Helen Coonan, said today.
Indian prison authorities have told the Australian Government that jammers used in prisons in India have caused significant interference to surrounding communications users and adjacent frequencies.
In a recent letter to the Australian Communications Authority (ACA), the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India said that as a result of interference from jammers, a mobile phone network in Bangalore was "affected to a large extent and their subscribers had to experience heavy disturbance".
The letter also said officers from the Wireless Monitoring Organisation and India's Department of Telecommunications "measured the interference signals and traced the harmful interference-generating source to Bangalore Central Jail" which recently installed mobile phone jammers.
"The Government has always maintained that mobile phone jammers posed a serious risk to other communications - including emergency services," Senator Coonan said.
"Despite this, State and Territory Governments have continued to push for the use of mobile phone jammers instead of investigating alternative measures for dealing with the issue of contraband in prisons - including mobile phones.
"I have written to the Chair of the Correctional Services Ministers' Conference (CSMC) offering the services of the Australian Communications Authority (ACA) to help assess technical options available to corrections management to stop mobile phone use by inmates."
There are technical alternatives to jammers, such as mobile phone detectors, that can identify and assist authorities to control the use of mobile phones in prisons and the ACA can assist the CSMC to identify these alternatives.
"I encourage the CMSC to utilise the services of the ACA to help identify an appropriate alternative solution to this serious problem," Senator Coonan said.
At its last meeting in June 2004 the CSMC agreed to establish the CSMC Working Group on Emerging Technology to consider technical and other aspects associated with control of mobile phone use in prisons.
"Mobile phone jammers are designed to cause harmful interference to all radiocommunications devices within their operational range," Senator Coonan said.
"Unfortunately, jammers can and do interfere with legitimate communications, including calls to emergency services. Jammers are therefore illegal in Australia."
Media Contact: Jane McMillan 0438 690 305