AN UNEXPECTED use has been found for phone-jamming technology designed for prisons – stopping Taliban bombs in Afghanistan.
The Prisons (Interference with Wireless Technology) Bill, introduced by Mole Valley MP Sir Paul Beresford, received Royal Assent last month, allowing prisons to prevent inmates using smuggled phones by blocking the signals.
Sir Paul has now revealed the same system is likely to be used by the British Armed Forces to stop insurgents detonating roadside bombs via mobile phones.
He told the Advertiser: "When I was first talking to the scientists about manufacturing this technology for prisons, they mentioned that it could be adapted for use out in Afghanistan and obviously that excited me.
"It is already being tested out there, and I just picture to myself an insurgent trying to set off a bomb under a tank and getting an engaged signal and shouting, 'blast Beresford!'
"I was aware that there was a possibility that the technology could be used in different ways when I first introduced the bill, so I am very glad to see an outcome as successful as this."
The bill received Royal Assent from the Queen on December 19, and Sir Paul said the technology will stop criminals "running their operations from inside".
"I was intrigued to find out that this technology is so intricate that they can pinpoint exactly what can and cannot be affected by the signal blocker," he said.
"For example, Coke machines have a chip in them that sends a message to the suppliers telling them it is empty and this remains unaffected by the signal blocker.
"More practically, it does not affect those living near prisons.
"I recently visited Brixton Prison, which is built into a council estate, and none of those residents are affected. It is marvellous technology."
He added: "This bill means the gangsters who have been running their operations from inside a prison cell will no longer be able to do that. Officers will also spend a lot less time having to search every last place for a Sim card, which is at times impossible to find, as they can now just flip a switch and be done with it.
"They can also track the numbers ringing in and ringing out, which presents other opportunities for us to catch criminals."
