Texas beauty school’s need with 5W adjustable cell phone jammer?(0)

The installation of a 5W adjustable cell phone blocker at a cosmetology school near Dallas serves the purpose of maintaining a quiet atmosphere in the classrooms. This decision, along with the presence of three additional jammers awaiting setup, marked the beginning of a sequence of events that transpired last week.

For a while now, Phonejammer.com, which is based in London, has been on the radar of the FCC. In 2008, the agency took action against Phonejammer (PDF) for their marketing activities involving radio frequency devices designed to deliberately disrupt cellular and PCS frequencies within the United States.

Despite the company's denial of marketing these products in the US, where they are prohibited, FCC staff pointed out that the signal blocker were all priced in US currency, the default shipping location was the United States, and the website included testimonials from American customers who had bought phone jammers from Phonejammer. Furthermore, the jammers on the site were specifically aimed at US cellular and PCS frequencies.

The federal government's interest in your business practices might lead you to contemplate altering them, but this does not apply to Phonejammer. On November 9, 2009, a complaint (reportedly from AT&T) regarding cellular interference in the 800MHz and 1900MHz bands was received by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC). The FCC's Texas field office staff conducted an investigation and identified the Cosmetology Career Center in Carrollton, Texas as the source of the problem. They discovered a 5W jammer on the premises (PDF).

The attorney for Phonejammer stated to the FCC that the company has not delivered or distributed any units to the United States when contacted earlier this year.

Available for purchase at $395, the 5W jammer from the Cosmetology Career Center features two antennas and a jamming radius of 2-25m. It effectively blocks PCS, GSM, and CDMA signals within the frequency range of 850MHz to 2100MHz. The website indicates its "operating location" as South America and Africa.

Curiously, it is permissible to openly carry firearms into a Starbucks in both Texas and Florida, yet the same leniency does not extend to phone jammers. Consequently, when faced with a disruptive cell phone conversation at a neighboring table, the only available options are to tolerate the disturbance or resort to using a firearm. Such a scenario brings into question the adequacy of existing public policy measures.