Three mobile network operators have been held administratively liable for exceeding the permissible signal level on the territory of penal institutions in the Kostanay Region. Following the measurements, Kar-Tel LLP ("Beeline"), Kcell JSC and Mobile Telecom-Service LLP ("ALTEL, Tele2") received fines.
HOW THE SIGNAL EXCESS WAS DETECTED
According to the Kostanay Region Prosecutor's Office, specialists from the department, together with the State Radio Frequency Service, the Department of the Penal Enforcement System and representatives of the telecom operators, carried out measurements of the signal level on the territory of penal institutions.
The inspection established that all three operators exceeded the permissible signal level on the territory of three institutions. After that, the prosecutor's office issued a response act, as a result of which the authorised body held the companies administratively liable.
WHY THE OPERATORS WERE HELD LIABLE
The operators were held liable under paragraph 16 of part 1 of Article 637 of the Administrative Offences Code of the Republic of Kazakhstan ("Violation of the legislation of the Republic of Kazakhstan in the field of communications"). They were given fines.
Requirements for operators are established by Article 97 of the Penal Enforcement Code ("Basic requirements of the regime for serving sentences"). It obliges companies to optimise their own communication networks, including responding promptly and taking measures to reduce the level of radio signal propagation on the territory of penal institutions.
According to the prosecutor's office, these requirements were not complied with.
WHY SIGNAL PROPAGATION IS RESTRICTED
The measures taken are aimed at ensuring that operators comply with legal requirements and at excluding the possibility of unlawful use of mobile communication services on the territory of penal institutions.
The prosecutor's office of the Kostanay Region continues its work in this area.
CONTEXT
Earlier, it became known that a convicted man who has been serving his sentence in a colony since 2011 became an accomplice in a new extortion while not leaving the correctional institution in Petropavlovsk.
The convicted man's accomplices held two men in a sauna and demanded money from them. To increase the pressure, they connected the convicted man, who was at that time in the correctional institution, to a video call. Under pressure, the men took out online loans of 300,000 tenge and 145,000 tenge.
In 2011, the man was sentenced to 21 years and 9 months of imprisonment. The court of first instance sentenced him to a further 3 years of imprisonment. Taking into account the previous sentence, the final term was 8 years.
