C.T.S. Technology Co. Ltd., a Chinese firm based in Shenzhen, has been fined US$35 million by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for selling 285 cellphone jamming devices inside the U.S.

The fine against C.T.S. Technology is the largest levied by the FCC against any domestic or foreign firm in its history. An FCC official said the fine was a record because the C.T.S. Technology's advertising misleadingly claimed the devices were approved by the FCC.

Like Us on Facebook

A cellphone or mobile phone jammer is an electronic device used to prevent cellular phones from receiving signals from base stations. It disables cellular phones and can be used in practically any location.

C.T.S. Technology describes itself online as "an international market leading supplier of cell phone jamming products, we supply all markets in both the trade and manufacture. We were incorporated in 2001 and have many thousands of satisfied customers in all corners of the world. We are based in the CN and we supply by Fedex Priority services/DHL/UPS/TNT directly to our customers and also via our chain of distributors.

For security, surveillance, spy & privacy, C.T.S offers both the discreet pocket cell phone jammer or the high powered versions, video camera, bluetooth jammers, detectors and car remote duplicators. Our cell phone blockers and detectors are currently used in many schools, prisons and by bomb squads all over the world."

C.T.S. Technology listed its address as the 3/F, Oct Building, No. 2010 Shennan Road E, Shenzhen China.

"While these devices have been marketed with increasing frequency over the Internet, they have no lawful consumer use in the United States," the FCC said.

The FCC noted that jammers might block communications among police and fire departments in an emergency situation or prevent people from calling 911.

C.T.S. Technology, however, has no U.S. office and it is unclear what the FCC can do if the company refuses to pay the fine.

C.T.S. Technology CEO Jian-feng Deng said he has not received the FCC notice imposing the fine. He claims his trading company rarely sells jamming devices in the U.S.

He said his company has sold less than 10 jammers in the U.S. They have never claimed the devices are FCC approved.

"We mainly sell products to customers in China. We don't know if some of our customers resell the products outside China," Deng told The Wall Street Journal.

Before imposing the fine against C.T.S. Technology, FCC staff bought 10 of the jammers undercover to confirm they were shipped to the U.S. The FCC is also looking for people who bought the 285 jammers it knows were sold by C.T.S. Technology.

The FCC said some of the devices it bought look like ordinary items while others are pocket-sized. One jammer looks like a pack of cigarettes.

On its website, one of the devices sold by C.T.S. Technology is a high powered, pocket-sized cellular phone jammer with a blocking range of up to 15 meters that can operate continuously for up to three hours on one charge.

This device will block CDMA 870-880Mhz; GSM 869-960Mhz; DCS 1805-1920Mhz and 3G 2110-2170Mhz.

The company said this device is effective against analog systems AMPS, TACS and NMT, and digital systems GPRS, GSM, DCS CDMA, PDC, TDMA PHS, IDEN, W-CDMA and UMTS.

TagsCellphone Jamming Devices, C.T.S. Technology, FCC, Chinese cellphone jammers