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LONDON CALLING, BUT NOT ON A CELLPHONE
London may be calling, as The Clash told us in its classic punk album nearly a half century ago, but if the government has its way, no one inside with a cellphone will be doing the same.
The BOP has for years wanted to use cellphone jammers to shut down the use of such phones inside federal prisons. Federal law (as interpreted by the Federal Communications Commission) prohibited any transmitter that was not intended to send communications without interfering with other devices. Because the very nature of a jammer is to interfere with other devices instead of sending communications, one agency of government was telling another agency of government that jammers were prohibited.
Prison jamming technologies are routinely used by correctional agencies around the world. New Zealand and Australia have employed jammers for more than a decade. The BOP conducted an early test of brute force jamming (which broadcasts multifrequency hash that disrupts all cell frequencies) in February 2010 and a limited field test of micro-jamming technology (which disrupts only a few frequencies in a much smaller area) at FCI Cumberland. Maryland, in January 2018.
The FCC has been granting Special Temporary Authority on a case-by-case basis to the BOP since them for testing purposes.
Prison jamming may be moving into the mainstream. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced last Wednesday that the FCC will vote November 19 on final rules that would allow prisons to jam contraband cellphones. Carr said the rules would allow, but not require, state and local correctional facilities to use cellphone jamming technology to combat contraband devices.
Once the rule change is in place, “corrections officials can apply to the FCC, outline how they’re going to do their jamming,” Carr said. “They’ll get approval from the agency, and they’ll be able to get going.” Institutions will have to prove that their decision will not create harmful interference outside designated geographic areas.
“This isn’t going to be a silver bullet at the end of the day but is a tool that has been denied law enforcement and corrections officials for too long,” Carr said.
KATV, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr joins Tim Griffin to announce vote on jamming prison cellphones (October 28, 2026)
Arkansas Advocate, FCC moving forward on rule to allow prison cellphone jamming (October 28, 2026)
Urban Institute, Cell Phone Jamming Technology for Contraband Interdiction in Correctional Settings (June 2023)
~ Thomas L. Root