As this eNews was being prepared, a scheduled demonstration at the Lieber Correctional Institution in Ridgeville, SC was postponed because of severe weather conditions. Presumably, it will be rescheduled. The South Carolina Department of Corrections and Florida-based electronics firm CellAntenna Corporation had planned a demonstration of CellAntenna’s equipment on Tuesday, September 9 at the Lieber facility. CellAntenna’s technology is said to jam all cell phone calls within a given area without causing any interference to wireless communications outside the specified area. According to corrections’ officials prepaid cell phones have become the “currency” for imprisoned felons who use them to obtain contraband such as drugs and alcohol, to abet gang activity and illegal scams carried out by non-incarcerated cohorts, or to intimidate possible witnesses in criminal proceedings. At present, federal law and FCC rulings prohibit states and private entities from jamming wireless communications, although federal agencies are permitted to use jamming devices. Correction officials pointed out that several other nations, Officials insisted that this technology would protect correctional workers and the public from the threat of ongoing criminal activity.Learn more at the S.C. Department of Corrections’ website.It’s not often that we carrying stories on intentional interference or jamming. What are your thoughts? Can these jamming devices foil felonious communications without affecting the phones of nearby honest citizens?To share your opinion, just go to the Interference Technology NEBS/Telecom Forum.
South Carolina Seeks to Jam Cell Phones within Prisons
