Bengaluru residents protest against jail signal jammers that interfere with daily communications
In order to prevent prisoners from using mobile phones, the Bangalore Palapana Agrahara Central Jail installed new signal jammers at the beginning of this year. However, this measure has had a significant impact on the normal lives of residents in the surrounding communities. Thousands of residents of South Wind Layout are facing continuous communication interruptions, and their mobile phone signals are completely blocked, forcing many to take to the streets to express their dissatisfaction.
Last Saturday, hundreds of residents from South Wind Layout held a protest in front of the Central Jail, demanding a quick solution to the signal obstruction problem. These residents said that since the jail installed the new Tower-Harmonious Call Blocking System (T-HCBS) in January, the jammer device signal interference range has expanded from the original 100 meters to more than 1 kilometer, resulting in a complete interruption of mobile phone signals for about 20,000 residents in the surrounding area.
Residents' lives are seriously affected
- Krishnamurthy, who lives near the prison, is helpless about the situation. He said: "Our mobile phones are basically useless now, and the signal is almost non-existent. We can't answer calls, send text messages, or even get the one-time password (OTP) required for bank transactions. We have even lost the ability to make emergency calls, which is an unprecedented predicament in Bangalore."
- Many residents pointed out that they have complained to the prison management many times, but the problem has never been solved. In order to try to improve the communication situation, they changed several different SIM cards, but all this did not help. A resident named Rajesh S mentioned: "Mobile phones have become a necessity in modern life, especially our children need to take online classes, and the signal at home is completely paralyzed. Working from home has become an impossible task."
- In May this year, the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) sent technicians to inspect the affected areas and found that three signal towers within 700 meters around the prison were significantly affected by jail signal jammers. However, despite the discovery of the problem, residents said that no improvement measures have been taken so far.
The police station is also deeply troubled
- Not only ordinary residents, but also the nearby Parapana Agrahara police station has not been spared. An official at the police station revealed that the impact of the prison phone jammers made it impossible for them to receive normal network signals. He added: "Our communication equipment can hardly work properly. Many times we have to walk out of the police station to make calls or send messages, which seriously affects the efficiency of daily law enforcement and emergency response."
Residents have different views on the installation of signal jammers
While many people understand that the prison installs cellphone signal jammers to prevent prisoners from illegally using mobile phones, they believe that the authorities should be more cautious in deploying these devices to avoid such a serious impact on the surrounding communities. "We are not against security measures, but the question is, why are the daily lives of residents not taken into account?" A resident who participated in the protest asked.
Residents of Nanfeng Layout said they have been fed up. If the problem is not resolved, they plan to report to higher-level government departments and even consider taking legal action to protect their communication rights.
Authorities' response and future prospects
At present, the management of the Bangalore Central Prison has not made an official statement on the protest, but internal sources revealed that the authorities are considering adjusting the coverage of the jammer devcies to reduce the impact on the surrounding communities. However, since the jammer blockers are designed to prevent prisoners from conducting illegal activities through their phones, optimizing the signal shielding range without weakening the protection inside the prison will be a major challenge.
