Interference prompts citation from FCC; alleged offender could face $16,000 fine per day
The Federal Communications Commission on Aug. 19 issued a citation to Jian Chang for operating a device from a home in Queens, N.Y., that was interfering with Sprint’s local cellular network.
According to documents from the FCC’s New York Enforcement Bureau, Sprint complained to the FCC about the interference affecting operations in the 1900 MHz band on March 10.
FCC officials “confirmed by direction finding techniques that radio emissions in the 1900 MHz band were emanating from a Part 15 device operated under the direct or indirect control of Mr. Chang by virtue of the fact that the device was confirmed to be in a property owned by him in Queens, New York. The device at this location is injecting noise into the Sprint network and degrading or blocking service to Sprint’s customers. Mr. Chang refused to allow inspection of the offending device.”
The national association for Amateur Radio has fairly extensive information describing Part 15 of the Code of Federal Regulations on its website, including a section addressing “urban myths” related to the rules.
From that section: “There are a lot of urban myths about Part 15 rules and devices. The first is that their signal levels are very small and it is not likely that they will cause harmful interference. Although this is true in most cases, the radiated emissions levels in Part 15 were designed to protect one neighbor’s television reception from another neighbor’s video game, as an example. The permitted radiation levels are not enough to always protect sensitive amateur reception. As one example, intentional radiators and carrier-current devices are permitted a field strength of 30 microvolts/meter at 30 meters distance from the source. On HF, this legal signal, if heard on an 80 meter half-wave dipole, would result in a received signal of S9+15 dB on most receiver S meters! This clearly would be harmful interference in the Amateur Radio Service.”
As Chang didn’t allow authorities to see what type of device he was using and how he was causing interference, it’s not clear exactly what was impacting Sprint’s network.
From the FCC documents: “The agents requested Mr. Chang’s assistance in locating the source of the interference and requested his permission to examine any possible radio sources within his residence. Mr. Chang refused to assist the agents and refused to allow the inspection of any offending transmitter.”
Based on the apparent violation, the FCC has directed Chang to “confirm in writing that he has taken the necessary measures and made the corrections to ensure that he does not continue to violate the rules …”
Chang is also directed to, within 30 days of the Aug. 19 citation date, either stop using the device or calibrate so it doesn’t interfere with cellular communications and, if he is able to resolve the issue, provide a written report on what he did to fix the problem.
If Chang keeps violating the rules, the FCC said he could face up to $16,000 in daily fines.
