TOKYO-Some public-use halls in Japan next year will be allowed to use jamming devices-an illegal practice under present laws-to shut out noisy beeps, electronic melodies and loud chats on cellular and PHS phones.
In November, the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications (MPT) will start accepting applications from operators of those public-use facilities seeking a license for jamming.
As the number of subscribers of cellular and Personal Handyphone System phones has increased, complaints against use of mobile phones in public spaces also have mushroomed. Today cellular and PHS subscribers exceed 40 million in Japan.
The MPT, after a three-month study, decided to allow operators of certain types of halls to use jamming devices on an experimental basis. Theaters, concert halls, movie theaters and lecture halls will be allowed to use the device. Schools, libraries, museums, hospitals, trains, hotels, restaurants and coffee shops will not.
According to the MPT, after these licensees have used jamming devices for the coming one to two years, they must submit all data to the MPT, which will examine the system’s efficiency and problems. It then will decide whether it should grant operational licenses to them.
Jamming is illegal under the Japanese Wireless Telegraph Law. However, jamming devices are sold widely in Japan. One leading maker, Nikkodo, was selling jamming devices reportedly at 50,000 yen (US$427) per unit. Medic Inc., another leading maker, reportedly has sold 6,000 units.
Even if these concert-hall operators put jamming devices on their facilities, they cannot prevent beepers from ringing because MPT decided not to stop beepers’ sound. They cannot stop alarm sounds from wristwatches, either.
Concert-hall operators and owners have had mixed responses toward the MPT’s decision.
Shobun Sato, a managing director of Tokyo Opera City Arts Co. Ltd., which operates a first-class concert hall in Tokyo, said his hall already purchased Medic’s devices, but he does not plan to use them because the concert hall successfully pushed down the number of incidents that noisy beeps interrupt concerts by announcing, “Please switch off your mobile terminal,” before concerts and by distributing flyers saying the same thing to the audience.
Seiji Yokoya, manager of Suntory Hall, also a first-class concert hall in Tokyo, said his hall does not plan to introduce the system because these devices may exert harmful influence over human bodies. “Instead we will encourage the audience to keep good manner,” he said.
According to a survey on complaints against mobile phones’ noise conducted by the Telecommunications Carriers Associations (TCA), 74.5 percent of respondents said they were annoyed by sound of mobile phones.
