A new project for the installation of a mobile phone deactivation system in the Central Prisons will be initiated, addressing an issue that troubles three ministries, as convicts continue to organise crimes from their prison cells.
Although the previous project for installing a system to cut off signals to mobile phones in prisons failed, with the government denouncing the contract and the case being transferred to the Courts, so far procedures have not been initiated for the arrival of a new system.
As a result, mobile phones are found in every prison search, from which, in some cases, crimes are ordered.
As explained yesterday by Transport Minister Alexis Vafiadis, the whole issue took time because a system that could meet current needs was needed while, at the same time, companies that could participate in a new tender had to be sought.
He also added that the issue of installing a mobile phone deactivation system in Central Prisons is being handled by three ministries (Transport, Justice, and Finance) and has occupied the Government a lot, as the previous contract failed, which was clearly “a failure of the contracting company to provide equipment capable of handling the frequencies it should have handled.”
Now the two prerequisites have been identified for a functional system to arrive, so specifications are expected to be issued day by day, these specifications to be transferred to the Department of Electromechanical Services so that the tender can take place.
Before the tender is announced, it must first receive approval from the Ministerial Council and then the appropriate contractor will be selected.
Mr. Vafiadis, referring to the time the whole process will take, predicted that before 2026 there will be no procurement of the new system.
As he emphasized, the tender process takes six months and the competition process takes about a year.
In any case, however, Mr. Vafiadis estimates that the entire system will be installed in the Central Prisons before three years have passed.
Moreover, we should take into account, as he also said, the particularity of the area where the correctional facility is located, which is a residential area and therefore, whatever system is installed, should not interfere with the signal of residents and houses.
As is known, the system that was installed but not received by the Electromechanical Service, while it was stopping the signal for 5G phones, however, due to interference, residents of the area were also affected, the British High Commission, etc.
As a result, there is currently a system that deactivates mobile phones with 3G.
Regarding the company that unsuccessfully undertook the project for a mobile phone deactivation system for 5G, Mr. Vafiadis said that the state had paid against it, because the implementation was in two phases, with the first concerning 3G being successful and the second for 4G failing.
The case is now in court, as he clarified.
