Property firms to be charged for walkie-talkies

By Yang Lifei  |   2008-6-24  |     ONLINE EDITION

PROPERTY management companies in Shanghai will be charged frequency fees for each walkie-talkie they use, the Shanghai Morning Post reported.

According to a notice issued by the Shanghai Radio Administration Bureau and the Shanghai Housing, Land and Resource Administration, the policy will be gradually carried out next month. It will first be rolled out in non-residential areas and then move into residential communities.

More than 10,000 property management companies in the city will use standard radio walkie-talkies and specific frequency wave bands in July, said the notice.

The regulations require that every walkie-talkie cost 100 yuan (US$14.3) and a frequency costs another 1,000 yuan per year. Thus, a property company that manages a mid-sized community with 10 to 15 walkie-talkies would be charged 2,000 yuan to 2,500 yuan every year.

By the end of this month all property companies have been asked to register equipment information at the Shanghai Radio Administration Bureau. Those who fail to register, but continue to occupy a wave band will receive a fine up to 5,000 yuan.

``A walkie-talkie is like a radio station in hand. Non-registered walkie-talkies occupy the national radio frequency and lead to frequency interference, which may affect normal communication of radio stations,'' said radio experts with the Shanghai Radio Administration Bureau.

``To maintain a fine wave band order on air especially during the Beijing Olympic Games and the 2010 World Expo in Shanghai, it is a must to register walkie-talkies used by local property companies.''

Private owned walkie-talkies with a range of only 200 to 300 meters are not included in the charge list.