OTTAWA-Canada’s national telecommunications authority, Industry Canada, is seeking public advice on the use cellular phone silencers in public places. Currently, only law-enforcement agencies have been given licenses for signal jammers.
David Warnes, senior advisor for spectrum policy for Industry Canada, told the National Post newspaper the trial would be used to gather a wide public viewpoint on the possibility of cell-phone jammers.
“Jamming technology is illegal here in Canada. We hope it would remain illegal,” Marc Choma, spokesman for the Canadian Wireless Telecommunications Association, told Reuters. “Our primary concern is public safety, with 3 million calls per year made to 911.”
There are currently more than 9 million cellular-phone customers in Canada. Industry Canada said it expects by 2005 more than 50 percent of all phone calls and Internet connections in the country to be done through wireless devices.
The public comment period is scheduled to last until July 12.
