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7h ago

FCC Schedules Vote to Let Prisons Apply Licensed Cellphone Jammers

The decision would let state and local facilities seek restricted jamming to stop inmate-run crimes under containment and testing safeguards.

FCC Chairman Brendan Carr joins Tim Griffin to announce vote on jamming prison cellphones (AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo, File)
WASHINGTON, DC - MAY 21: FCC Chairman Brendan Carr testifies before the House Appropriations Subcommittee(Photo by John McDonnell/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON, DC - MARCH 19: Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) speaks as U.S. Northern Command and North American Aerospace Defense Command Commander Gen. Gregory Guillot and U.S. Southern Command Commander Marine General Francis Donovan appear before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on March 19, 2026 in Washington, DC. The committee held a hearing to review the readiness of U.S. Northern and Southern Commands and their fiscal year 2027 budget request. (Photo by Andrew Harnik/Getty Images)
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Overview

  • FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced Wednesday that commissioners will vote on final rules at the agency’s November 19 meeting to allow state and local prisons and jails to apply for licensed jamming.
  • If adopted the rules would be voluntary for facilities and would create a licensing framework that requires containment zones, technical testing, and advance notifications to limit interference outside prison grounds.
  • Officials and corrections leaders pushed the change after citing seizure data and cases showing inmates use contraband phones to order killings, run criminal enterprises, coordinate gangs, and exploit children.
  • Wireless industry groups and emergency-response advocates warn jammers can disrupt legitimate service including 911, a risk the FCC proposal aims to reduce through technical safeguards but does not eliminate.
  • Even with authorization jamming would not replace searches, drone detection, or investigations and uptake will vary across states, leaving costs, operational limits, and interference risk as key issues to watch after the vote.