[WIham] BBC 8/17/10: US baby babble hits Japan taxis

[Rick Kisséll]

	            	            	Asia-Pacific
	            	          				  
 




US baby babble hits Japan taxis
    
     
         
 
        		
		        
        BBC 
8/17/10

Taxi and lorry drivers in 
Japan are being affected by unusual disruption from US military bases - 
baby babble that jams their radios.


        Officials in Tokyo said that US-bought baby monitors used by 
parents on bases were emitting signals that interfered with other nearby
 transmissions. 


        Problems had been reported near bases across Japan, Kyodo news agency said. 


        A US official said the military discouraged the use of US-bought baby monitors by its personnel in Japan. 


        According to the Japanese internal affairs and communications
 ministry, the devices emit strong signals on the same frequencies as 
those used for mobile telephones and radio communications, which is 
against the law. 


        The devices had disrupted local taxi and lorry companies' 
communications near bases in in Okinawa, Tokyo, Kanagawa and other 
areas, the ministry added. 


        They could also potentially affect the radio communications of the emergency services, it warned. 


        "Our ministry is asking the US military for permission to 
visit the families who are illegally emitting these frequencies and 
personally ask them to avoid using the baby monitors," a ministry 
official told AFP news agency. 


        The US has some 47,000 military personnel stationed on bases 
in Japan. In many areas the bases are unpopular, with local residents 
citing noise, disruption and base-related crime.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-pacific-10998238