“No bid” ended the direct purchase of the “signal blocker to be installed in the central office of the Ministry of Commerce”, which is trying to rent the gps jammer system to block signals from mobile phones.
On November 30, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (Mineco) submitted an invitation letter 7265298 using the operation number Guatecompras (NOG) to purchase “interference system services that block various telephone signals (3G/4G/GSM/WIFI).” It will be installed in District 1 of the headquarters of the Ministry.
The density of the sun visor is five meters, there are five movable antennas, and it can completely protect the iPhone 3, 4 and 5. iPad, all Samsung 3 and 4G phones, HTC phones, Motorola and all other phones. Mineco’s spokeswoman Marisol Zea replied that the event was declared invalid and “will not be asked again”. The system was originally intended to be used in conference rooms, but it is impossible to determine exactly in which room of the building. He added that we have four rooms available.
The spokesman said that this is not to prevent anyone in the building or deprive anyone of the communication, but only for training courses that require full attention. For Ricardo Barrientos, senior economist at the Central American Institute of Finance (Icefi), this incident is rare for a portfolio like Mineco because the acquisition is not in line with Legal purpose.
Barrientos said that if you want to buy a signal shield to protect the issues involved in this product portfolio, the competent authority needs to consider that the participants’ agenda and list are publicly available information and ask if they want to deal with extreme confidentiality or certain The problem is in Mineco. According to Barrientos, if you want to use it in the classroom, you need to know the type of information to be protected and the law implementing this measure, because it is enough to require the phone to be turned off outside the room.
For Violeta Mazariegos, head of the Executive Secretariat of the Public Information Access Committee (SECAI), this was an unnecessary expense. She said that she should know the technical and legal advice on which the purchase decision was based. He added: “Which indicator of the quality of the expenditure and the expected results justify the purchase.” Zea guarantees that the price of the device will be between 4000 and 6000, but on the website, the price of the system is about 1500 US dollars.
5G Americas issued a document in February, pointing out that the disadvantage of the Jammer system is that it prevents communication with emergency numbers that need to be activated and is technically difficult to configure, so it only works in specific areas. In some countries, personal use is prohibited. In the same neighborhood where Mineco operates, there are churches, Congressional offices and public departments.