“This is not about imposing some sort of
bureaucratic governmental process to stop people from purchasing what they
want. What we are saying is that there are things that will work and there are
things that won't work and the undue interference is what we are trying to
prevent so that everyone can enjoy the use of the spectrum, and the use of
these new technologies without any hindrance”
Director of
Legal Affairs at the SMA, Ida-Gaye Warburton, commenting on wireless gadgets
that interfere with spectrum
One has to be careful when shopping online. This as
not all the gadgets work in Jamaica, which is sad, as many are now discovering
this AFTER Christmas 2015!
That's the SMA (Spectrum Management Authority) is
becoming aware imported electronic gadgets experiencing interference with
certain spectrum in Jamaica as noted in the article “Gadget
Lovers Clashing With Radio Spectrum”, published Sunday December 13, 2015 by
Neville Graham, The Jamaica Gleaner.
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So much so that the SMA has issued a Press Notice
titled Notice to
importers of Radio Devices on the SMA
website.
Many electronics gadgets purchased online or shipped
to Jamaica via the barrel as described in my blog article
entitled “How
US$80 Amazon 6-inch Kindle Reader (2014) is on sale - Why pack US$50 Amazon
Fire Kindle in a Jamaican Barrel” are not working in Jamaica.
So what are the most common devices that do not work
as advertised when shipper to Jamaica?
Some
Smartphones do not work in Jamaica – Quad-Band GSM Smartphone only for Jamaica
This as many of them may be using frequencies
already occupied by Telecom Provider services here in Jamaica.
This is already true in the case of smartphones,
often shipped down in bags of rice in barrels to relatives here in Jamaica. In
many cases, it can be as simple as purchasing a Smartphone that isn't
compatible with any of our local Telecom Network, Digicel or FLOW Jamaica which
use the following frequencies:
1. Digicel:
GSM 900MHz, 1800MHz, 850MHz, 1900 MHz
2. Cable
and Wireless – LIME: GSM 850MHz, 1900 MHz
Jamaicans often purchase smartphones that are CDMA
(Code Division Multiple Access) and forget that Jamaica uses a GSM (Global
System Mobile) that's incompatible with any CDMA Smartphone that work on Sprint
or Verizon as noted in my blog article
entitled “How
to unlock any phone and put it on any Network - Guaranteed to unlock any
Feature or Smartphone on the Chennai Express”.
1. T-Mobile
USA: 1900 MHz
2. AT&T:
850 Mhz, 1900 MHz (3G 850 Mhz, 1900 Mhz)
Unlocking Smartphone should no longer be a problem,
especially as most Smartphone are now being sold carrier unlocked since
February 2015 as noted in my blog article
entitled “US
Carriers must Carrier Unlock smartphones as of Wednesday February 11th 2015 –
How Americans can get their smartphones Carrier unlocked”.
Here in Jamaica, Digicel and FLOW Jamaica has
unilaterally decided to start selling unlocked smartphones since January 2015
as noted in my blog
article entitled “Why
Digicel and FLOW Jamaica selling unlocking smartphones as Huawei and Xiaomi
coming in 2016”.
This is thanks to increased competition from
dual-SIM Smartphone and sellers of unlocked smartphones such as Miami-based
phone-maker Blu Products, Chinese based Huawei and the soon-to-come Xiaomi,
makers of the Xiaomi Redmi smartphone.
But aside from smartphones, what other products may
have difficulty working in Jamaica? And what does the SMA plan to do about this
rising problem?
SMA
on Electronic Gadgets - Check before importing due to Signal Interference
Aside for smartphones, the other gadgets that seem
to not work in Jamaica are as follows:
1. Garage
door openers
2. Keyless
entry devices
3. Vehicle
immobilisers
4. Vehicle
trackers
5. RFID
tags
6. CB
Radios
7. Wi-Fi
Routers
8. Bluetooth-enabled
devices
Here is a List
of Equipment Seized Under the Radio and Telegraph Control Act. This is a
list of items seized by the Jamaica Customs Agency.
Many of these devices are low power transmitters,
which are easily overwhelmed by the higher signal strength of our local Telecom
Network as allocated on the SAC (Spectrum Allocation Chart) as shown in the
image below.
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As such, you product may not work in Jamaica, even
though they may have been advertised as working abroad, as pointed out Director
of Legal Affairs at the SMA, Ida-Gaye Warburton: “You are bringing in a keyless
device, but it uses the spectrum; if it is not a device that is configured to
work on the frequency range that we have here in Jamaica for that device, when
you try to use it, you may experience interference from something else that is authorised
to work in that band. It may work in China, but China uses a different plan
than in Jamaica”.
Realizing that more Jamaicans are purchasing these
devices, the SMA is putting in place plans to police the spectrum that is
currently being used and make customer aware of how their devices might be
suffering interference. This as the SMA, who are the guardian of Spectrum on
behalf of the Government of Jamaica, have it in their power to certify devices
that transmit or receive radio signals for operation in Jamaica.
They are advising customer and businesses who seek
to import certain electronic gadgets into Jamaica to seek clearance from the
SMA via their Notice
to importers of Radio Devices on the SMA
website. Otherwise the Jamaica Customs Agency pending approval of the SMA,
will start to confiscate items deemed to be potentially presenting an
interference hazard with our current usage of spectrum in Jamaica.
This has always been the case but they are now
thinking to be more proactive via their press Notice, to quote Director of
Legal Affairs at the SMA, Ida-Gaye Warburton: “Customs has always been
detaining items of this nature if it is that they are not already authorised by
the SMA. So it is not new. It is simply alerting the public to the fact that
this is what will occur if it is that they bring in an item that's not already
preapproved”
So how do you check to see if the item you are
importing conforms to the spectrum guidelines set out by the SMA?
List
of Approved Devices - What the Jamaica Customs Agency allows you to import
For one, there is a list of List of Approved Devices
on the SMA website that customers and business can check in order to know what
can be imported and what cannot be imported.
This list of items is listed in Approved
Equipment Certification List as at 2016 January 4 that comply with SMA's
regulations and which the Jamaica Customs Agency will allow to be imported into
the island. These devices are regulated through their Type Approval process,
which is done in other Caribbean and international territories.
This verifies that the electronic gadget conforms to
both national and international standards. It’s also checked to see if it is
fit for importation in terms of the frequency it uses as well as potential to
experience interference or cause interferences with other products.
So the next time you plan to import an electronic
device or any Telecommunication product, check the SMA's Website for their list
of Approved
Equipment Certification List as at 2016 January 4 so as not to face the
headache of spending thousands of dollars on a product that doesn’t work.
Here’s the link:
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