CellAntenna petitions FCC to allow jamming equipment: Company cites concerns over cellphones used to detonate explosives

CellAntenna Corp. asked the Federal Communications Commission to permit first responders to use jamming equipment to prevent terrorists from using cellphones to detonate bombs known as improvised explosive devices.
The Coral Sprints, Fla., firm said it decided to petition the agency for the rule change after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals rejected on jurisdictional grounds its challenge to a law allowing only the federal government to interfere with wireless communications. The court, according to CellAntenna, concluded that such a legal challenge would have had to have been made within the first six months after the regulations went into effect, which it said predates the date of birth of the founders of the company.
“Although regulating the airwaves is the primary purpose of the FCC, these regulations must necessarily be consistent with the public interest and serve legitimate governmental purposes,” said Howard Melamed, CellAntenna’s CEO. “The denial of counter-terrorism technology to emergency first responders certainly runs afoul of national goals and the will of Congress.”
CellAntenna asserts FCC regulations frustrate the express mission of the Department of Homeland Security and should be amended to serve the public interest and improve national security.
“Our first responders-especially the bomb squads-need jamming technology to cope with the methods of terrorists who commonly use radio frequency devices to trigger bombs that kill people,” said Melamed. “Protecting the airwaves should hold second place to protecting lives.”