[cma-l] Four hundred pirate radio setups shut down in London in just two years
Ian Hickling
transplanfm at hotmail.com
Tue Jul 7 11:38:17 BST 2015
Anyone who's visited Baldock will know that Ofcom can and does keep tabs on all UK broadcasters - legal and otherwise.
Because of imposed financial and manning restraints they have a priority system for dealing with pirates.Those who aren't actually causing any interference - regardless of their illegality - get shoved to the back and effectively are rarely pursued.It is totally irrelevant - and needn't have been mentioned at all - that other cities and countries don't have the problem.We do - we have perfectly good legislation to deal with it - but the motivation, funding and support from H M G simply aren't there.Write to your MP if you want this to change!
Ian Hickling
Partner
Office: 01635 578435 (7am-11pm UK time)Carphone: 07530 980115 (only responds when driving)6 Horn Street, Compton, NEWBURY, RG20 6QS
Date: Tue, 7 Jul 2015 08:11:27 +0100
From: ravensound at pilgrimsound.co.uk
To: cma-l at mailman.commedia.org.uk
Subject: Re: [cma-l] Four hundred pirate radio setups shut down in London in just two years
This is full of interesting bits:
"It's a big problem, especially in London," he said. "There are
about 70 active stations in the London area. In the whole of the
UK we've got something like just over 100.
"From the enquiries we've carried out, this problem doesn't exist
in New York or Rome or Paris - it's a London phenomenon."
Maybe because in Rome and Paris the FM band is planned for the
city - not the surrounding countryside as it is in London?
Tony Bailey
On 06/07/15 18:08, Ian Hickling wrote:
"........internet radio and the introduction of
community broadcasting licences have taken away some of the
incentive for pirates to broadcast........"?
Sorry - on which planet is this?
Ian Hickling
Partner
Office: 01635 578435 (7am-11pm UK time)
Carphone: 07530 980115 (only responds when driving)
6 Horn Street, Compton, NEWBURY, RG20 6QS
From: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Date: Mon, 6 Jul 2015 11:40:18 +0100
To: cma-l at commedia.org.uk
Subject: [cma-l] Four hundred pirate radio setups shut down
in London in just two years
Regulators have raided nearly 400 suspected pirate
radio setups in London over the last two years, the
Standard can reveal.
Figures released by Ofcom in response to a Freedom of
Information request show nearly a quarter of the raids
took place in Haringey, north London, while 90 resulted
in equipment being seized.
Lambeth, south London, was the next biggest offender,
with more than 50 raids on suspected pirates between
April 2013 and March this year.
The communications regulator says internet radio and the
introduction of community broadcasting licences have
taken away some of the incentive for pirates to
broadcast.
But pirate stations remain a problem because they can
interfere with vital comms channels used by the
emergency services.
"It's not about raising revenue," Clive Corrie, Ofcom's
head of spectrum enforcement, told the Standard. "It's
about protecting the spectrum from harmful interference.
"Last year Ofcom received 53 complaints of interference
to aviation services - ground-to-air radio location and
radio navigation systems."
Of the 53 complaints, 48 related to the London area.
Mr Corrie added the problem was largely confined to the
capital, though the reason for this has experts at
something of a loss.
"It's a big problem, especially in London," he said.
"There are about 70 active stations in the London area.
In the whole of the UK we've got something like just
over 100.
"From the enquiries we've carried out, this problem
doesn't exist in New York or Rome or Paris - it's a
London phenomenon."
The true figures are likely to be even higher - councils
don't have to tell Ofcom when they raid pirate radio
setups.
Hackney Council revealed last month it had dismantled 29
masts and transmitters being used by pirate broadcasters
in 12 months - only five of which are recorded in the
FOI disclosure given to the Standard.
Aviation doesn't use the same bandwidth as FM radio but
because the home-made transmitters are typically a dozen
times stronger than community radio equipment -
sometimes up to 300 Watts - and are often poorly
installed, they can inadvertently take over higher
frequencies.
Corrie added pirates typically chose tower blocks on
high ground, and often hide equipment in lift shafts and
air vents - not just to stop authorities from getting to
it, but also to protect it from other pirate groups.
"It's a bit of a Wild West situation," he said.
Among the council raids in Hackney this year was one on
the Summit Estate, Upper Clapton.
Hackney's housing chief Cllr Philip Glanville said:
"Surprisingly, this type of activity is still quite
common, and can have an impact on the lives of our
residents."
Three years ago, the Army inadvertently raided an
illegal dance music station in north-east London.
Soldiers stumbled upon a group of "young men"
broadcasting from Highfield Towers in Collier Row as
they set up surveillance equipment ahead of the
Olympics.
Source: http://www.standard.co.uk/news/london/four-hundred-pirate-radio-stations-shut-down-in-london-in-just-two-years-10362974.html
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