ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has asked the Federal Board of Revenue (FBR) to stop illegal import of GSM boosters, as the practice is causing an interference in frequency bands of mobile companies, besides deteriorating quality of mobile services in the area these amplifiers are installed in.
“It has been observed through field experience, complaints from operators and subsequent field monitoring by Frequency Allocation Board (FAB) that there is an increase in use of substandard GSM boosters/amplifiers/repeaters by the general public,” a PTA letter sent to the FBR read. “Only licenced cellular mobile operators (CMOs) are authorised to install such devices at the users’ premises.”
The PTA said that the majority of the GSM amplifiers being installed are Chinese made and do not have manufacturer and model numbers written on them.
The letter was written after CMOs had informed PTA that around 25pc of complaints regarding poor quality of signals were due to the GSM amplifiers installed in those areas. CMOs also stated that the devices were being offered through online shopping, wherein the general public purchases such equipment while shipment of the same is delivered after custom clearance.
The letter requested the FBR to issue instructions to all their domains to allow import of GSM amplifiers by CMOs only.
