Jose Francisco CT4AN, REP national MS coordinator, reports that the Portuguese national regulator has taken action against illegal radio communications

It's the second time ANACOM and the Portuguese Maritime Police act over illegal communications and interferences.

The Portuguese Maritime Police, a branch of the Portuguese Navy, and the Communications Authority ICP-ANACOM made a control operation which resulted in confiscations on radio equipments and heavy fines to ten operators. Besides having the equipment confiscated, the operators face fines which may reach 1250€, close to 1650USD.

The newspapers detail that the fiscalization was made on 28 vessels and 29 harboured stations, both on sea, inland and in waterways - http://www.dn.pt/inicio/portugal/interior.aspx?content_id=3407923&seccao=Sul

The Authorities said that the operation was based on interference complaints to legal radio systems, including Amateur Radio Service, Aeronautical Band, Maritime Service and commercial radio frequencies.

Rede dos Emissores Portugueses (REP) in Google English - http://tinyurl.com/PortugalREP

Portuguese Regulator ANACOM - http://tinyurl.com/PortugalCommsRegulator

The UK communications regulator Ofcom used to report prosecution statistics but has not done so since the 2008/9 financial year. Not only do Ofcom no longer report what actions they taken, they also appear to have removed the previously published figures from their website.

Ofcom 2008/9 prosecution statistics - http://www.southgatearc.org/news/may2010/ofcom_prosecutions.htm