[FedCom] Churches Installing Cell Phone Jammers

[GG]

Posted on Sat, Oct. 16, 2004

OLGA R. RODRIGUEZ

Associated Press


MONTERREY, Mexico - It was the reporters who noticed first. Unable to call
their editors while covering the weddings of the rich and famous, they asked
the priest why their cell phones never worked at Sacred Heart. His reply:
Israeli counterintelligence.

In four Monterrey churches, Israeli-made cell phone jammers the size of
paperbacks have been tucked unobtrusively among paintings of the Madonna and
statues of the saints.

The jarring polychromatic din of ringing cell phones is increasingly being
thwarted - from religious sanctuaries to India's parliament to Tokyo
theaters and commuter trains - by devices originally developed to help
security forces avert eavesdropping and thwart phone-triggered bombings.

The Indian parliament had jammers installed after politicians ignored
requests to turn off their cell phones and legislative sessions were
constantly interrupted.

In Italy, universities started using the blockers after discovering that
cell phone-savvy teenagers were cheating on exams by sending text messages
or taking pictures of tests.

The four Roman Catholic Churches in this northern city began using the
devices, from Tel Aviv-based Netline Communications Technologies Ltd., after
an insurance salesman imported them as a personal favor for a priest.

"There are still many people who don't understand that being at Mass is
sharing a moment with God," said the Rev. Juan Jose Martinez, a spokesman
for archdiocese. "Sadly, we had no other choice but to use these little
gadgets."

Purchased for about $2,000 each, they can be turned on by remote control and
emit low-level radio frequencies that thwart cell phone signals within a
100-foot radius.

Users get a "no service" or "signal not available" message on their cell
phones.

Although Mexico has no law against the devices, the private use of cell
phone blockers is illegal in the United States and most Western countries.

But the tide is turning.

Japan allows public places such as theaters and concert halls to install
jammers, provided they obtain a government-issued license. And last week,
France's industry minister approved a decision to let cinemas, concert halls
and theaters install them - as long as provisions are in place so emergency
calls can still be made.

Canada had considered allowing blocking in similar situations. But Industry
Canada, which regulates the country's telecommunications, decided against
it, saying the devices could infringe on personal freedom and affect public
safety by crippling communication with law enforcement and security
agencies.

Officials at Netline, which sold its first jammer in 1998, say they are
selling thousands of jammers a year and have expanded their business
throughout the world.

They're far from the only manufacturers. The devices are sold the world
over, with dozens of suppliers selling them on the Internet.

Tokyo-based Medic Inc. sold thousands of its Wave Wall jammers before the
government stepped in and regulated their use to venues with live
performances. Commuters still buy mobile jammers to shut up chatty train
passengers, even though their use is illegal.

In Scotland, businessman Ronnie McGuire, owner of Electron Electrical
Engineering Services, imported Taiwan-made cell phone blockers and sold them
to hotels, restaurants and bars until a local newspaper reported his
activities, which were illegal in Britain.

McGuire has said he will still import the Taiwanese devices but sell them
for export only to countries where they are allowed.

Loreen Haim, the director of marketing and sales for Netline, wouldn't say
how many devices the company sells per year or what country buys the most.

In Mexico, the main clients have been banks looking to stop would-be robbers
from communicating with their accomplices and the Mexican government, which
is planning to use them at prisons, Haim said.

In Monterrey, the Sacred Heart church, a baroque temple favored by Mexico's
elite for weddings, church officials acquired their blockers two years ago.

"Whenever there was a wedding, cell phones would ring every five minutes,"
said Bulmaro Carranza, a parish clerk. "It was a real problem because there
were times when even the groom would forget to turn his cell phone off."

For months, the devices went unnoticed until reporters covering the weddings
began complaining that their cell phones never worked.

Since word of the jammers went public, priests from around Mexico have been
calling to find out how to get them, said Carranza.

At Sacred Heart, a device at the entrance to the church and another by the
altar are turned on right before every Mass. Still, priests remind
parishioners to turn off their phones before beginning the services, hoping
good cell phone etiquette will eventually catch on.

The other Monterrey churches with the devices - The Rosario, San Juan Bosco
and Our Lady Queen of the Angels - are also frequented by wealthier
parishioners, Martinez said.

"For a lot of them, the cell phone is a necessity. But that shouldn't
prevent them from having good manners and remembering that one must respect
sacred places," Martinez said.

Margarita Escobedo, a Catholic who goes to church at least twice a week and
volunteers at the San Genaro church, says she would welcome the jammers in
her parish, where cell phones are becoming a nuisance.

"Those who bring cell phones to church are not committed to God," Escobedo
said. "It's very distracting to be praying and suddenly hear birds chirping
or techno music."

---

AP writers Yuri Kageyama in Tokyo and Kate Brumback in Paris contributed to
this report.

http://www.charlotte.com/mld/charlotte/9937741.htm


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