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DC Prisons Cancels Cell Phone Jamming Demonstration At Last Moment
No Official Reason Given
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January 8, 2009 (FPRC) -- Coral Springs, FL– CellAntenna Corporation announced today that the District of Columbia Prison Demonstration authorized by the FCC has been cancelled by the District of Columbia Department of Corrections.
“We are disappointed that the DC Prison authority has obviously buckled under the pressure of the CTIA, the representatives of the cellular carriers who are making money on the use of cell phones in prisons,” said Howard Melamed, President and CEO of CellAntenna Corporation. “CTIA obviously puts profit over public safety.”
CellAntenna Corporation was supposed to demonstrate its cell jamming technology on Thursday, January 8. While setting up its equipment, a representative from District of Columbia Prisons notified CellAntenna of the news.
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) had provided the District of Columbia Prisons written authorization for the test, allowing CellAntenna Corporation to perform the demonstration of jamming of cell phones. The CTIA filed a last minute, 85-page challenge to the test that was supposed to be heard by Federal Court at 4 PM on January 7th, 2009. The FCC had prepared a brief in favor of the testing. Unfortunately, the whole situation became moot once the DC prisons cancelled the test.
“We had invited members of Congress and the press, who were interested in seeing the demonstration happen,” said Melamed. “Everyone should have an interest in stopping criminals from using cell phones behind bars. I find it incredible that the CTIA even has the ability to stop a test authorized by the US government.”
“Test or no test, the problem is the same. The Cellular Service Providers are still selling services to inmates despite the fact that it is illegal to use a cell phone in prison. In fact they are supplying a new special plan: Prison Time Minutes. I think that we need to hold the CTIA and the Cellular Carriers accountable for aiding and abetting criminal activities since they are doing nothing to stop it.”
CellAntenna said that it will continue doing legal demonstrations of its equipment in any Department of Correctional facility in any state that asks.
“It is time that common sense prevail, and Congress change the law to allow jamming of cell phones in prison,” said Melamed.
About CellAntenna Corporation
Headquartered in Coral Springs, Florida, and offices in England and Poland, CellAntenna Corporation provides packaged, custom, and even rapid deployment cellular repeater systems for residential, commercial and government use. The company’s new products provide communication during disasters and where signal enhancement is required for saving lives. CellAntenna is involved in the limiting of cellular communication in prisons and in areas of high security. In addition, CellAntenna works on new and innovative applications for its systems and develops new, cutting-edge technologies. For more information, please visit: www.cellantenna.com.
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Send an email to David E. Johnson of Strategic Vision
404-880-0098
Keywords:
law enforcement, cell phone, jamming
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