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D.C. Memo: FCC’s Carr to Unveil Plan for Jamming Contraband Cell Phones in State Prisons

FCC leader to address this public safety issue today at a Little Rock, Ark. press conference alongside Sen. Tom Cotton (R‑Ark.) and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R)

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Ted Hearn
Oct 28, 2026
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Prison: A fight over prison cellphone jamming is set to move back into the spotlight Wednesday as FCC Chairman Brendan Carr prepares to outline a plan that could allow state correctional facilities to block signals from contraband devices. Carr is scheduled to discuss the proposal at a 10 a.m. ET press conference today in Little Rock, Ark., alongside Sen. Tom Cotton (R‑Ark.) and Arkansas Attorney General Tim Griffin (R)

Carr first proposed allowing state and local prisons to deploy approved jamming technology in September 2025. Carr has argued the agency can interpret Section 333 of the Communications Act to treat contraband cellphone use inside prisons as unauthorized communications, potentially clearing the way for signal jamming.

“What we can do at the federal level is we authorize communications or we don’t authorize communications, and so what we’re going to do is we’re going to deauthorize the lawful use of contraband cell phones within the confines of prisons,” Carr said last year in outlining this original approach, which may have changed slightly in the interval. “So once contraband cellphone use is not an authorized communication, then the federal law is no longer a prohibition to jamming it.” (More after paywall)

Sen. Cotton, Rep. Kustoff Pressure FCC's Carr to Allow Mobile Phone Jamming in State Prisons
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr (third from right) touring Arkansas’ Varner Prison, a high-security state prison for men in Lincoln County, on Sept. 5, 2025

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