US Regulator to Vote on Letting Prisons Jam Cellphone Signals
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr says the US Federal Communications Commission will vote on November 19 on rules that would let prisons use signal jammers. The plan includes strict testing requirements but has also drawn criticism.
The chairman of the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC), the agency that regulates radio and communications in the country, has announced a November 19 vote on rules that would allow prisons to use signal jamming equipment. The aim is to stop inmates from using cellphones. The decision matters because the use of such devices has so far been limited to a narrow set of exceptions.
Radiofrequency jammers are generally banned under Section 333 of the Communications Act of 1934, with few exceptions. Chairman Brendan Carr has noted that some federal facilities already have permission to use them. In a statement, he said that for years thousands of contraband phones have flowed into prisons, and that some of the worst offenders have used them to order hits, coordinate violent gang activity and aid criminal enterprises.
How licensing would work
Under the FCC proposal, prisons would obtain licenses to operate jammers. Applicants must meet technical standards and testing requirements. They would first test under an experimental license to show the equipment does not cause harmful interference outside designated areas, and then test again at the correctional facility after the license is granted but before operations begin. Jamming would be allowed only inside a Commission-authorized “jamming containment area.” Wireless carriers, FirstNet (the public safety communications network), public safety coordinators and 911 authorities would get advance notice of on-site testing, and nearby communities would be notified before deployment.
Support and objections
Law enforcement officials, including Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin and Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, have pushed for the change. FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez said last year, when the commission approved a draft proposal, that it should begin with a pilot program. She voiced concern about unintended consequences of allowing non-federal actors to jam signals and letting jamming equipment formally enter the American market.
Anonymous incarcerated journalists argue the push is a response to their use of phones to send timely reports of civil rights violations to news media. They point to a 2024 US Department of Justice investigation into Georgia’s prisons, which found “horrific and inhumane conditions” based on evidence first transferred through contraband phones.
Legislative efforts are also under way, such as the Cellphone Jamming Reform Act of 2025, introduced last year by Arkansas Senator Tom Cotton.
