By CNET Asia Staff, 1 September 2003 09:44
NEWS Canny hoteliers are using Taiwanese technology to block cellphone signals, fooling guests into thinking there is no coverage in the area and forcing them to use the hotel's phone services. Some hotels in Scotland have installed mobile phone jammers to force guests to use the in-room phone service, reported Scottish tabloid Daily Record. The device emits a radio signal that blocks the use of mobile phones. Users who are unaware that their mobile phones have been sabotaged think there is no coverage in the area when the phones show 'no service'. Businessman Ronnie McGuire - owner of Electron Electrical Engineering Services - imports these gadgets from Taiwan and sells them to hotels, restaurants, bars and bed and breakfasts, said the report. Phone jammers - part of a variety of new technologies developed to address what some argue are mobile annoyances - are becoming popular. Firms that want to stop staff from using mobile phones to call and text message during work hours utilise these devices, for example. Paul Kan, chairman of Champion Technology Holdings - a Hong Kong-based company selling signal jamming technology - said in a report from news agency Reuters: "This is a way to enforce etiquette of mobile phone usage where polite persuasion has failed." Cellphone jamming is illegal in the UK. As the number of travellers trotting the globe with mobile phones increase, hotels and other establishments are losing revenue from costly overseas phone calls traditionally made by guests. This has made them turn to phone-jamming devices to recover loses.
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