CTIA Asks FCC to Ban Sales of Unauthorized Repeaters
CTIA filed a petition at the FCC asking the agency to immediately prohibit the sale and use of cellular jammers and the unauthorized sale and use of wireless boosters and repeaters. CTIA warned that the reliability of wireless services “is now at risk of being severely undermined” unless the FCC acts quickly.
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“The whole issue of interference to wireless carrier networks is a growing problem for our industry,” said Paul Garnett, assistant vice president for regulatory affairs at CTIA. “This is a problem we're hearing about more and more from our members and that’s why we filed this petition.”
Garnett added that in many cases the interference is innocent. “You can get on the Internet and buy a fairly inexpensive repeater and think that you're solving your own in- building coverage issue when what you're doing is potentially harming everyone else’s use of the network, including your own,” he said. Garnett added that the Enforcement Bureau has been effective responding to problems case by case. “The problem is you don’t know there is a problem until it’s pretty serious.”
CTIA said despite clear legal prohibitions, some companies continue to sell jammers. “In the face of recent and clear statements of Commission policy, the agency has received multiple requests to authorize the increased use of jammers outside existing controls,” the group said. “The time has come for a declaration that the existing policy remains in effect and that violations will be prosecuted.”
Concerning repeaters and boosters, CTIA said that consumers and businesses nationwide have been installing repeaters to maximize the reach of their wireless networks. “The equipment is typically poorly manufactured and likely to interfere with licensed radio communications,” CTIA said. “The harmful effects of such equipment have been documented as a matter of Commission record.”