Residents' complaints about jail signal
With the promotion of prison signal blocking measures, many residents living near these facilities have begun to face communication problems.
According to the Costa Rican Telecommunications Regulatory Agency (Sutel), there have been 12 complaints from communities surrounding prisons. They are mainly concentrated in areas such as La Reforma (Alajuela) and San Sebastián (San Jose), and there is one complaint from near Limon Prison.
Residents complained that the strength and adjustment of the signal jammers were not properly addressed, causing them to encounter many difficulties in their normal lives. Sutel responded that the company of the signal blocker is still adjusting the equipment and coordinating follow-up actions to solve these problems.
Reasons for the promotion of mobile phone signal jammers
In order to deal with the increasing fraud and criminal activities inside the prison, the relevant departments decided to adopt signal blocking measures. This measure has been legally approved since 2018 and preparations began in mid-2019.
Although planned to be completed by the end of 2020, the implementation time was forced to be postponed due to the impact of the epidemic. Attorney General Fiorella Salazar pointed out that Covid-19 restrictions made it difficult for international suppliers to arrive on time, which in turn affected the commissioning and deployment of the signal jamming system.
Despite many challenges, signal blocking measures have made some progress in prisons. The Ministry of Justice reported that the blockade measures have successfully blocked 3,472 illegal phone and Internet connection attempts since the implementation. Most of these attempts occurred in La Reforma Prison. In addition, the prison system has confiscated up to 2,000 mobile phones, showing the initial effectiveness of signal blocking measures in preventing illegal communications.
Continuous monitoring of blockade measures
In order to ensure the effectiveness of the blockade measures, the Ministry of Justice stated that in addition to blocking the signals inside the prisons, regular inspections will be carried out to prevent the development of criminal activities inside the prisons. At the same time, in response to the problem of signal blocking affecting neighbors, the Ministry of Justice and telecommunications companies will continue to coordinate solutions, striving to maintain the effectiveness of the blockade measures without affecting the normal lives of residents.
Although prison signal shielding measures have achieved certain results in preventing illegal communications within prisons, they have caused serious interference to the mobile phone signals of surrounding residents. The government and regulators are facing pressure to address these side effects.