Cryptocurrency mining has been becoming increasingly common these days. Over the years there are a number of people who have joined the mining spree and are mining for cryptocurrencies. In a first of its kind case, a Brooklyn resident was asked by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) to turn off his mining devices after it was found out that his mining was disrupting T-Mobile network in the area!
Victor Rosario, the man who was mining for Bitcoins in Brooklyn, was asked to turn off his miner. He was using an Antminer S5 Bitcoin Miner to mine for Bitcoins. The FCC discovered that this mining device was interfering with the T-Mobile LTE networks in the area. This interference in the network is a violation of federal laws, as per the FCC. Rosario was told that continued interference with the T-Mobile networks "could subject the operator to severe penalties, including, but not limited to, substantial monetary fines, in rem arrest action to seize the offending radio equipment, and criminal sanctions including imprisonment."
“On November 30, 2017, in response to the complaint agents from the Enforcement Bureau’s New York Office confirmed by direction finding techniques that radio emissions in the 700 MHz band were emanating from your residence in Brooklyn, New York,” the FCC wrote in a complaint posted to its site.
Interestingly, as of this writing, it still remains unknown as to what was causing the miner to generate 700MHz radio emissions. . “On November 30, 2017, in response to the complaint agents from the Enforcement Bureau’s New York Office confirmed by direction finding techniques that radio emissions in the 700 MHz band were emanating from your residence in Brooklyn, New York,” the FCC wrote in a complaint posted to its site. “When the interfering device was turned off the interference ceased. You identified the device as an Antminer S5 Bitcoin Miner. The device was generating spurious emissions on frequencies assigned to T-Mobile’s broadband network and causing harmful interference.”
The manufacturer of the Antminer Bitcoin Miners, BitMain was contacted by a number of publications. The company has responded saying they have requested the Manufacturer, Model, Serial Number and FCC labelling identification from Victor. It is only after carefully studying the manufacturing records and observing the device that final conclusions can be made as to why this Bitcoin mining device was causing these radio emissions which disrupted the T-Mobile network.
Interestingly, this isn’t even the first time T-Mobile has been in a cryptocurrency controversy. A trader who lost thousands of dollars in a hacking attack has sued T-Mobile over negligence and lack of security that led to his cryptocurrencies getting stolen.