Letter to Editor: Jammers are solid answers to prison cell-phone use

Editor’s note: RCR Wireless News accepts letters to the editor in response to issues taking place in the wireless industry. Send your letters to the editor to [email protected]
To the Editor:
I’d like to provide an additional perspective on the issue of illegal cell phone use in U.S. prisons. This commentary is in response to a recent concern workshop/webinar sponsored by the FCC’s Public Safety and Homeland Security Bureau, in conjunction with the Department of Justice’s National Institute of Justice (NIJ) and the Association of State Correctional Administrators (ASCA). This workshop was conducted due to the ongoing issue of illegal cell phone use by inmates in U.S. prisons and the threat it poses to citizens and law enforcement who continue to become victims of threats and attacks from prisoners using illegal cell phones behind bars.
The 1934 Communications Act states that it is illegal to jam authorized cell phone RF communications. However, cell phones in prisons are not authorized, since President Obama signed a bill into law in August 2010 making cell phone illegal in prisons. Properly engineered cell phone jammers are no threat to legal phones. They are the best weapon against illegal phones used by inmates.
The telecommunications industry continues to push for the use of expensive managed access platforms as the alternative to cell phone jamming to solve this issue. The problem is they don’t have to take on the financial burden of these expensive systems. In fact, they continue to make money from the use of these phones as most of the time they are funded with prepaid cards. It is easy to tell someone to buy the expensive car when you are not paying for it.
If the telecommunications industry was truly serious about trying to stop the pandemic use of cell phones in prisons, they would put up the money needed to secure their products and would not simply offer advice. Talk is cheap. If the carriers don’t volunteer to pay for these systems, then their profits should be taxed. Taxpayers should not have to pay the tab when the carriers are making millions directly from the use of illegal cell phones in prisons.
The solutions supported by the CTIA for addressing this issue are prohibitively expensive and place an undue burden on correctional facilities that already are strapped for cash. In most of the facilities in the U.S., cell phone jamming would be less than one quarter of the cost of any system the CTIA has supported to date. The CTIA’s argument that it is impossible to control jamming signals is based on outdated legislation, and the FCC and CTIA continue to refuse to appropriately authorize and sanction the use of advanced jamming technology despite witnessing multiple tests that immediately shut down mobile phones around prison auditoriums without interrupting outside cell service.
No restrictions should be placed on law enforcement to stop imprisoned criminals from using cell phones to continue their criminal enterprises. The laws preventing the use of mobile phones in prisons are not impervious to criminals. Attacks resulting from the use of contraband mobile phones continue.
CellAntenna CEO Howard Melamed