PTI govt acts to stop illegal sale of GSM boosters

PTA says shops violating order will face legal action under telecom law

ISLAMABAD:

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has taken action against sellers of GSM amplifiers and boosters.

A legal notice, a copy of which is available with The Express Tribune, was sent to different markets that were found selling signal boosters to the public and the authority ordered an immediate halt to such illegal practice.

As per the notice, shops found violating the order will face legal action under relevant provisions of the Pakistan Telecommunication (Re-Organisation) Act 1996 along with other applicable laws. These GSM amplifiers and boosters are illegal as per the Act.

According to Section 31, Sub-section (2) of the Act, “the unauthorised use of the radio frequency spectrum shall be punishable with imprisonment, which may extend to (three) years, or with fine which may extend to Rs10 million, or with both.”

The legal notice also mentions that these GSM amplifiers and boosters cause interference in the licensed frequency spectrum bands allocated to the cellular mobile operators and cause deterioration in the quality of cellular mobile services.

Furthermore, the issue of GSM amplifiers and boosters was also raised by the PTA in August this year in a public notice. As per that notice, the authority stated that it had observed the increasing use of substandard GSM boosters/amplifiers by mobile users. The authority warned importers, distributors, sellers and users of legal action.

Following the PTA’s order, all leading e-commerce portals banned the sale of such equipment.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 16^th, 2020.

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