A control campaign initiated by the National Authority for Management and Regulation in Communications (ANCOM) in the North-Eastern part of the country revealed the usage of non-conforming wireless fixed telephones (DECT 6.0), which cause prejudicial interferences in certain radio frequency bands. The control campaign is ongoing.
Since 22 February 2010, ANCOM has carried out 49 control missions in Iasi county, in order to establish the source of interferences signalled in the radio frequency bands used for providing third generation (3G) mobile telephone services. The ANCOM Regional Division in Iasi conducted the investigations and identified that the interferences were produced by the wireless fixed telephones DECT 6.0, which do not bear the CE marking.
Sale and use of this type of telephones are not allowed in Romania, as they are incompatible with the allocation of radio frequencies for 3G mobile telephone services on the entire territory of the European Union. In 2005, the American regulatory authority for communications (i.e. Federal Communication Commission) established the channels for the DECT 6.0 wireless telephones between 1.920 and 1.930 MHz. Thus, this type of telephones can now be used only in the USA and Canada or in the Asian area, where this equipment operates in the 1.920-1.935 MHz frequency band. These terminals cannot be used in the EU Member States, therefore neither in Romania, because they do not comply with the European DECT standard, which provides for their use in the 1.880-1.900 MHz frequency band. When used in the European space, these telephones cause interferences with the 3G frequencies allotted at European level and thus hinder the operators that hold licences for the use of such frequencies.
“We found that, generally, the persons who used these telephones were not aware that their use is illegal in the European space. They purchased the terminals while travelling outside Europe or online, or received them from relatives abroad. After the ANCOM representatives explained that the use of the respective telephones was not allowed in Romania, the users switched them off voluntarily. We advise all users of communications equipment to make sure that the apparatus bought from abroad bears the CE marking”, Catalin Marinescu, the President of ANCOM, said.
Following the control actions at the DECT 6.0 wireless telephone users undertaken by the Iasi Regional Division, ANCOM issued 9 notifications to the persons holding or using such non-conforming equipment which caused prejudicial interferences. If the holders of such telephones keep using them, the Authority is entitled to apply contravention fines ranging between RON 5,000 and 100,000, according to the Government Emergency Ordinance no.79/2002 on the general regulatory framework for communications.
The Authority also conducted 40 control missions at the distributors of radio equipment and communications terminals from Iasi county. The ANCOM inspectors verified 204 DECT wireless telephones and discovered one radio equipment which did not comply with the essential requirements and was removed from selling. The ANCOM control campaign will continue.