# FCC sets vote to clamp down on contraband cellphones — retained record

> Retained news record from news:lightreading.

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source: [news](https://highsignal.app/data/news) (news:lightreading)  published 2026-10-28 14:16 ingested 2026-10-29 03:02

[original source ↗](https://www.lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/fcc-sets-vote-to-clamp-down-on-contraband-cellphones)

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FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said the FCC will vote next month on final rules to allow prisons to jam contraband cellphones that inmates are using for illicit means. #pressrelease
October 28, 2026
At an event in Arkansas this morning, FCC Chairman Brendan Carr announced that the FCC will be voting next month on final rules that, for the first time, would allow state and federal prisons and jails to jam contraband cellphones. Chairman Carr was joined by Senator Tom Cotton and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin for a roundtable with law enforcement officials for the announcement. 
Thousands of contraband cellphones have poured into prisons across the country. Inmates have been using them to call in hits, coordinate violent gang activity, abuse young children, and aid criminal enterprises. The FCC Order, which will be circulated to FCC Commissioners today and voted on during the agency's November 19th Open Meeting, would adopt rules that allow—but do not require—state and local correctional facilities to jam contraband cellphones.
Correctional facilities across the United States continue to be plagued by an influx of contraband cell phones that threaten the safety of prison officials and employees, the prison population, and members of the general public. Despite numerous efforts over the past decade to implement technologies to prevent contraband cellphone use, the problem persists. A 2024 study found that prison authorities recovered more than 25,000 cell phones in one year alone. Two of the participating facilities reported recovering more than 6,000 cell phones each.
Given the breadth of the problem, corrections officials continue to seek authority to leverage additional tools in this ongoing battle, including jamming solutions. This groundbreaking action takes a cue from congressional leaders, such as Senator Tom Cotton and Representative David Kustoff, who proposed key legislation and who, along with a multitude of bipartisan state attorneys general, continue to highlight the critical need for alternatives to meet this public safety challenge.
In the proposed FCC Order, the Commission would expand the options available to the corrections community to combat contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities, though it will not require facilities to deploy it. As the Commission takes this historic step to improve public safety, eligible entities pursuing either of the two licensing paths will be subject to technical standards and testing requirements. This includes initial testing pursuant to an experimental license to prove that the jamming solution does not cause harmful interference outside of the designated geographic areas, as well as post-license grant testing at the subject correctional facility prior to beginning operations.
Jamming may occur only within a Commission-authorized "jamming containment area" where wireless device operation is prohibited, and it must not cause harmful interference outside that area. Additionally, relevant carriers, FirstNet, public safety coordinators, and 911 authorities would receive advance notice of the on-site testing, and nearby communities would receive notice before deployment.
Read the full press release here.
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document fetched 2026-10-29 03:02 · canonical https://lightreading.com/regulatory-politics/fcc-sets-vote-to-clamp-down-on-contraband-cellphones