The FCC will vote on November 19 on final rules that would let state and local prisons and jails jam contraband cellphones. FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced the vote on October 28 in Little Rock, Arkansas.
The rules are not adopted yet. The draft Order went to the commissioners on October 28. Its text could still change before the vote.
What the FCC’s prison cellphone jamming rules would do
The draft would allow jamming but would not require it. Each facility would decide whether jamming makes sense for it. Carr was direct about that in his statement:
No correctional institution will be required to use jamming, and this will not be the right solution for every facility.
Radio jammers are generally banned under Section 333 of the Communications Act of 1934, as The Verge notes. Only a few exceptions exist today.
The FCC’s release cites a 2024 study in which prison authorities recovered more than 25,000 phones in one year. Two facilities each recovered more than 6,000.
The commissioners would also open a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking. It would seek comment on closing loopholes that may let contraband phones keep working on other frequencies and services.
Will a prison jammer affect your phone or 911 calls?
This is the question that matters for prison staff, visitors and people who live nearby. The FCC’s release lists several requirements meant to keep jamming confined to the facility.
- Containment area: jamming would only be allowed inside an FCC-authorized zone where using wireless devices is prohibited. It must not cause harmful interference outside that zone.
- Testing before approval: a facility would first test under an experimental license to show the jammer does not interfere beyond its designated area.
- Testing on site: more testing at the facility itself would follow before the jammer goes live.
- Advance notice: carriers, FirstNet, public safety coordinators and 911 authorities would be told before on-site testing. Nearby communities would get notice before deployment.
These are the FCC’s stated requirements, not proven results. Whether a given jammer stays inside its zone will come down to testing at each facility. If you live or work near a prison, watch for the deployment notices the rules would require.
Critics raise a press-freedom concern
Not everyone backs the plan. The Verge reports that incarcerated journalists see the push as partly a response to their use of phones to expose abuses.
The Verge points to a 2024 Justice Department finding of severe, inhumane conditions in Georgia prisons. Evidence of those conditions first came out through contraband phones.
The Verge also notes that FCC Commissioner Anna Gomez warned of unintended consequences when the draft proposal was approved in 2025.
Sen. Tom Cotton and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin joined Carr for the announcement.
For another recent FCC decision that touches phone users, see our report on the FCC clearing Amazon’s Globalstar buy. We also covered the Starlink Mobile 800MHz spectrum deal.
The commissioners vote at the November 19 Open Meeting. Until then, everything described here remains a draft.
