How the SMA and Jamaica Customs Agency ensure Jamaicans import Radio Devices that work in Jamaica

“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.

 

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.

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:

List of Equipment Seized Under the Radio and Telegraph Control Act

Approved Equipment Certification List as at 2016 January 4

SMA Type Approval process