FCC to vote on allowing prisons to jam cellphone signals
The Federal Communications Commission is scheduled to vote on November 19 on rules that would allow prisons to use radiofrequency jammers to block cellphone signals.
Carr said contraband phones have entered prisons in large numbers and have been used to arrange violent acts, coordinate gang activity, and support criminal enterprises. The proposed rules would expand the limited permission currently granted to some federal facilities.
Cellphone jammers are generally banned under Section 333 of the Communications Act of 1934, so the vote would establish a broader regulatory exception for prisons. The FCC has not yet approved the rules; the agency’s commissioners will vote on the proposal on November 19.