Shanghai wants law on radio spectrum

SHANGHAI delegates at the first session of the 13th National People’s Congress in Beijing have called for a national law on the management of radio spectrum to crack down on its misuse.

The delegates have come up with 13 proposals that cover various fields like justice, credit system, transport and minor’s rights protection. The proposals are currently open for discussions.

Initiated by Shao Zhiqing, the proposal on radio calls for a unified regulation on the domestic radio spectrum resource management and additional security over its use.

According to the Property Law of the People’s Republic of China, the radio spectrum is listed as one of the strategic resources and deemed as important as land, mineral, water and forest — all of which have their own laws.

“The radio spectrum is similar to water and land resources, which are limited. When part of its range is occupied, it cannot be used by others,” Shao told Shanghai Daily. “The radio spectrum is also special because every part of it can be reused for various purposes in times of need.”

Shao said radio has been used in all walks of life, even for military and defense purposes. Although there are some regulations for departments like civil aviation and broadcasting on radio management, these provisions don’t go all the way to cover factors like the range of application, force of supervision and administrative penalty.

Shao suggested that they should be unified.

Illegal broadcasting

In recent years, the number of cases of radio spectrum being misused for illegal broadcasting and base stations to sell fake drugs was on the rise. A radio spectrum resource management law will provide the legal basis to crack down on this misuse.

Wang Jianyu, head of the Shanghai branch of Chinese Academy of Sciences, agreed with Shao’s proposal.

“The radio is a kind of electromagnetic wave, which has limited range of frequencies,” Wang said.

“Sometimes we receive spam messages on our cellphones from official numbers, like those of mobile operators. That’s the kind of trick played by fraudsters by using the same frequency channels.

“Such acts are only restricted by regulations but there are no laws to govern them.”