The Republican-led Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is set to vote next month on a proposal that could allow prisons to jam contraband cellphones for the first time.
Allowing this type of activity would mean partially lifting the federal ban on cellphone jamming, 47 U.S.C. § 333, which prohibits blocking authorized radio communications. At a talk at the Arkansas Attorney General’s office in Little Rock, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said that reclassifying contraband cellphones as unauthorized could sidestep the rule. Cellphone jammers are sometimes sold illegally and used by car thieves and burglars.
The FCC cited data from a 2024 study that found prison authorities recovered more than 25,000 contraband cellphones in one year alone, and that two state departments of corrections reported recovering over 6,000 cellphones each. Carr said these contraband phones have enabled some of the “worst possible” offenders to “order hits, coordinate violent gang activity, and aid criminal enterprises.”
FCC commissioners will vote on the proposal on September 30. The FCC says the new framework will allow cooperation between prisons and wireless carriers, without causing “harmful interference” to wireless networks and mobile devices of Americans who live, work, and travel near prisons.
“Public safety is government’s first priority, and the evidence clearly shows that contraband cellphones pose a direct threat to Arkansans’ security,” Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in the official statement.
Recommended by Our Editors
This Tweet is currently unavailable. It might be loading or has been removed.
Though jamming technology has never been rolled out nationwide, it has been tested on a micro level before. In 2019, the Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) conducted a pilot test of micro-jamming technology at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina.
Political pressure to amend the current rules on targeted jamming has been building for some time. The Cellphone Jamming Reform Act was introduced to Congress in March 2025 by Sen. Tom Cotton [R-AR], but has not yet made it past the Senate committee.
Get Our Best Stories!
A Smart, Bold Take on the Wireless World
By clicking Sign Me Up, you confirm you are 16+ and agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Thanks for signing up!
Your subscription has been confirmed. Keep an eye on your inbox!
About Will McCurdy
Contributor
