CTIA Asks FCC to Reject Bureau Waiver for D.C. Cell-Jamming Test
The CTIA Tuesday asked the FCC to stay a Wireless Bureau order granting the District of Columbia special temporary authority to test cell-jamming equipment developed by CellAntenna at the district jail Thursday. The CTIA also asked the full commission to reconsider the decision, made at the bureau’s initiative.
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“We woke up to find they had done this late Friday night, with no public notice and as quickly as we could we've filed asking them to stay this,” Michael Altschul, the CTIA’s general counsel, told us. “There’s no public safety issue that compels such a rush, and we think that it’s wrong and the commission should take the time to review all the issues we've raised.”
A petition filed by the CTIA said the bureau issued the order “immediately following the New Year’s Holiday, without proper notice to potentially affected parties or any opportunity for comment.” It added that section 333 of the Communications Act “unambiguously prohibits the use of cell phone jamming technology,” as the commission has repeatedly said. “The Commission is without authority to violate this prohibition.”
The bureau failed to consider the harms that could result, the CTIA said. “CellAntenna’s device is specifically designed to block wireless telephone calls -- the primary service provided by CTIA’s members,” the petition said. “The Bureau considered no evidence to the extent to which this harm could even be confined within the prison, and it would be difficult to determine precisely what carriers and customers might be affected.”
“While we believe that prisoners should not have access to wireless phones while incarcerated, there are other, non- interfering and legal ways to find and take the phones out of their hands,” Chris Guttman-McCabe, the CTIA’s vice president of regulatory affairs, said in a written statement. “There are several companies that provide wireless detection systems that can be used by jails to identify and confiscate phones, and that do not interfere with wireless communications. As the FCC previously acknowledged, Congress has been clear in prohibiting the use of jammers in state prisons.”
CellAntenna did a similar test with South Carolina officials in November, despite objections from the CTIA and wireless carriers. But this is the first time the FCC has approved one of the tests. Devon Brown, director of the district’s Department of Corrections, wrote FCC Chairman Kevin Martin Dec. 16 asking the commission to approve the test. Brown also invited Martin to attend what he called an “immensely important event.”