FCC Threatens Fines for Illegal Use of Mobile Frequencies

A Pennsylvania man has been ordered to cease operating surveillance cameras that are interfering with cellular service in his area.

According to a Citation and Order issued by the U.S. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), officers of the FCC’s Enforcement Bureau launched an investigation in June 2022 into claims by T-Mobile that harmful interference to its cellular services in the York, PA area was emanating from surveillance security cameras installed at a single-family home in York, PA occupied by Luis Martinez.

The Bureau’s investigation confirmed T-Mobile’s findings, and Enforcement Bureau officers instructed Martinez to either remove the cameras or readjust the camera’s settings so that the device operated within the 2.4 GHz band. Although Martinez reportedly disconnected the cameras, he eventually switched them back, reinitiating the interference.

Under the terms of the Citation and Order, Martinez has 30 days to stop using the devices or face financial penalties for failing to do so.

Read the FCC’s Citation and Order issued to Martinez.

As a sidebar to this story, an article posted to TheDesk.net website raises the possibility that the security cameras might have been erroneously marked as working on the 2.4 GHz spectrum when they were, in fact, operating on the 2.5 GHz band (the same band being used by T-Mobile and other cellular service providers).