CellAntenna Files Petition at the FCC to Get Illegal Cell Phones Found in Prisons Turned off by Cell Phone Carriers

Rule Change Facilitates Cooperation between Cell Phone Carriers and Law Enforcement: Essential to Solve the Problem of Cell Phones In Prisons

CORAL SPRINGS, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--CellAntenna Corporation announced that they have filed a petition to have illegal cell phones in a prison that are electronically detected and identified, unsubscribed by the cellular carriers. The petition requests that the FCC define rules for how law enforcement and cellular carriers can help curtail the illegal use of cell phones in prisons by criminals.

“Having the FCC provide the framework, by way of our petition assists the carriers and law enforcement officers in protecting the public by thwarting the illegal use of cell phones by criminals.”

Illegal cell phones in prisons are a security threat to law enforcement and the general public. This position will no doubt be confirmed by a report due out this week by the Government Accountability Office (GAO). All too often the inmate obtains a smuggled cell phone and uses it to continue their crime behind bars. No matter how vigilant correctional officers are the infiltration of cell phones has escalated to pandemic proportions – with hundreds of thousands of cell phones found annually in our nation’s prisons. Although jamming technology would be the most cost effective way to solve the problem, current laws prevent its deployment. Other methods including managed access can be easily defeated and are unaffordable for local and state departments of corrections.

CellAntenna has perfected an affordable and practical technology to stem the problem. CellAntenna’s Guardian Service detects and identifies individual cell phones and the carriers they are attached to in a targeted area and creates a simple list that can be sent to the carriers by the prison authorities. The carrier has only to unsubscribe the cell phone from their system rendering the illegal device useless. The petition filed recognizes that the carrier cooperation is essential to effectively fight the problem illegal cell phones found in prisons.

“In our discussions cellular service providers expressed their desire to help solve the problem of illegal cell phones in the prisons,” stated Howard Melamed CEO of CellAntenna Corp. “Having the FCC provide the framework, by way of our petition assists the carriers and law enforcement officers in protecting the public by thwarting the illegal use of cell phones by criminals.”

CellAntenna in cooperation with Department of Corrections around the country has tested the Guardian Service solution and can attest to the amount of illegal cell phones found in prisons and their specific details.

For more information or interviews please contact Priscilla Doyle at [phone] ext. 2203.

About CellAntenna: CellAntenna is an experienced system integrator that specializes in cell phone control solutions. CellAntenna’s Detection, Managed Access, Guardian Service and Cell Phone Jamming solutions are used by governments around the world as well as the US Federal Government. For nearly a decade, the company has increased its clients’ productivity and safety through the boosting of signal strength and reduction of dropped calls using cellular repeaters and mobile phone signal boosters. Headquartered in Coral Springs, FL, CellAntenna, a woman owned ISO 9001 2008 company also has offices in Europe. More information is available at www.cellantenna.com, www.cjam.com and www.cawireless.com.