Technology Overview

Various methods can be used to control abuse of cell phones & mobile phones, whether it is for reasons of security, safety, privacy or productivity.  Those currently identified include: intervention, detection, and jamming.

NOTE: Except for Quiet Cell Systems, none of the products listed here are related to Cell Block Technologies, Inc.  They are listed here only to illustrate methods of cell phone silencing by our Competitors.

Intervention

A cell phone / mobile phone silencer using Intervention involves direct communications with phones, normally unattended by the cell phone & mobile phone user.

Quiet Cell Systems

Quiet Cell Systems carry out bi-directional communications with cell phones / mobile phones to advise them that they are in a Wireless Restricted Area.  They are then taken off the standard phone network and placed within a private network where they will neither receive calls nor be allowed to call out.  There is no requirement that the phone manufacturers participate in the program.  We believe that the Quiet Cell products are the only products to use this approach, for which patents have been applied.

Competitor: Q-Zone

A joint venture between BlueLinx, a North Carolina-based Corporation, and the University of Adelaide in Australia is working to develop a feature for cell / mobile phones that interacts with Bluetooth shortwave radio-link systems in public places.  The feature is designed to automatically silence cell phone / mobile phone ringing. The product is called Q-Zone. 

Q-Zone communicates with cell phones within its area of jurisdiction and turns down their ringers.  This method requires that the hardware manufacturer of the cell phone & mobile phone device participate by including hardware that can receive these communications.

Additionally, it does not prevent patrons from placing outgoing calls or receiving a phone call from a vibration rather than a ringer.  Often times having to listen to a call is more annoying than listening to the ring. The positive news is that Q-Zone has piqued the interest for “quiet zones” in restaurants, churches, theaters and company conference rooms thereby acknowledging the need for such a product.  We believe that Quiet Cell control units are a better alternative.

Detection

Products that detect the presence of cell phones / mobile phones and send an alarm when one is present cover another approach to the cell phone / mobile phone abuse issue.  Morse Medical Inc. and Zetron’s Cell Phone Detector Plus are available products using this approach.

Detecting cell phones / mobile phones is legal in all jurisdictions of which the Company is aware.  Unfortunately, detection provides absolutely no assurance that a user will turn off their phone or refuse to use it.

Competitor: Morse Medical - Model 510

Morse Medical Inc. Model 510 senses intentional and inadvertent operation of cellular telephones and hand-held radios in such restricted areas. Once a cell phone, mobile phone or hand-held radio signal is detected, the Model 510 provides notification in the form of an audio alarm followed by a voice message. The voice message requests the cell phone / mobile phone user to discontinue use of their cellular telephone. A switch behind the front panel allows the user to set the Model 510 to use voice plus alarm or alarm only. 

Competitor: Zetron – Cell Phone Detector Plus

Cell Phone Detector Plus detects cell phone & mobile phone and 2-way radio transmissions. It sounds an alarm followed by a voice message requesting the user to turn their communication device off immediately.  Compact and lightweight, the Cell Phone Detector Plus is portable or can be wall-mounted. The Cell Phone Detector Plus can be powered by batteries or an AC adapter. It has an adjustable detection range of 2 to 30 meters outward from the unit. 

Jamming

A cell phone / mobile phone jammer involves a process whereby signals are disturbed by other signals.  Jamming is illegal in the United States, and in most other countries of the world.  Japan appears to be unique in this respect.  In 1998, Japan's Ministry of Posts and Communications officially restricted the use of jamming for cell phones to "theatres or concert halls where the degree of public nuisance is significant." 

Reportedly, France also allows jammers in certain locations.  Most countries in the Middle East and Asia are less restrictive than North America and Europe.

Two known products on the market to jam cell phones / mobile phones: 

Competitor: C-Guard

Introduced in 1998 by the Israeli Company, Netline Technologies, the C-Guard uses a high radiation signal to effectively “scramble” a cell phone / mobile phone signal and covers an area about the size of a football field.  The initial press related to C-Guard was very positive for all of the reasons that we think the Cell-Block-R technology will be successful. 

However, the device was deemed to be illegal in the U.S.  The device emitted very high levels of radiation to effectively “jam” communications, the area it covered was the size of a city block and could not be reduced and the device is portable which meant that it could be carried beyond private spaces where interfering with communications is illegal. 

The press loved what C-Guard could do but the U.S. Government did not approve of the technology that allowed it to work.

The price in 2001 for a C-Guard (small unit) was $900.  It could be purchased in North America only via the Internet.  Announced in January 2000 in Canada, Global Protection and Intelligence Inc. became a distributor of C-Guard, but has not received any government approvals or sanctions. Its published price for the small unit is $4,000 (CDN) or about $3,000 US Dollars.

Competitor: Kavit

KAVIT Electronics Industries Ltd. of Israel offers a line of jammers which they believe have a better technology then Netline (C-Guard), with much more cost effective prices.  Depending on the output power of each model (320mW, 1W, 3W, 10W, 15W, 30W), the typical blocking radius may range up to ~120 meters, or even more (depends on the received cellular signal strength).   Prices start under $1,000 for the smallest units.  http://www.kavit.com/. 

Competitor: Wave Wall

Medic Inc. introduced its Wave Wall device in 1998.  The device sends out powerful signals on the same frequencies as those used for both incoming and outgoing calls, rendering mobile phones mute. It is as if the phone had been turned off or taken beyond the range of the service area: No calls can be made or received.  Wave Wall standard version, which has a 20-foot jamming radius, sells for $480.

Other than the Quiet Cell control units, none of the other devices appear to be well suited to high security areas or to enforce the policies of  an information security system.

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Last modified: 05 June, 2007