Promoting Technological Solutions To Combat Contraband Wireless Device Use in Correctional Facilities

FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION <CFR>47 CFR Parts 1, 15, and 90</CFR> <DEPDOC>[GN Docket No. 13-111; FCC 25-65; FR ID 318554]</DEPDOC> <SUBJECT>Promoting Technological Solutions To Combat Contraband Wireless Device Use in Correctional Facilities</SUBJECT> <HD SOURCE="HED">AGENCY:</HD> Federal Communications Commission. <HD SOURCE="HED">ACTION:</HD> Proposed rule. <SUM> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUMMARY:</HD> In this document, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or Commission) seeks comment on proposals that would enhance public safety by removing regulatory barriers to the deployment and viability of existing and developing technologies that combat contraband wireless device use in correctional facilities. This document seeks comment on a proposed framework to authorize, for the first time, non-federal operation of radio frequency (RF) jamming solutions in correctional facilities. The Commission seeks to foster a collaborative environment among key stakeholders, including departments of correction, solutions providers, wireless providers, public safety and 911 entities, to explore an expanded range of solutions to a shared problem. </SUM> <EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">DATES:</HD> Interested parties may file comments on or before December 26, 2025; and reply comments on or before January 12, 2026. </EFFDATE> <HD SOURCE="HED">ADDRESSES:</HD> Pursuant to §§ 1.415 and 1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested parties may file comments and reply comments on or before the dates indicated on the first page of this document. Comments may be filed using the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System (ECFS). You may submit comments, identified by GN Docket No. 13-111, by any of the following methods: • <E T="03">Electronic Filers:</E> Comments may be filed electronically using the internet by accessing the ECFS: <E T="03">https://www.fcc.gov/ecfs/.</E> • <E T="03">Paper Filers:</E> Parties who choose to file by paper must file an original and one copy of each filing. • Filings can be sent by hand or messenger delivery, by commercial courier, or by the U.S. Postal Service. All filings must be addressed to the Secretary, Federal Communications Commission. • Hand-delivered or messenger-delivered paper filings for the Commission's Secretary are accepted between 8:00 a.m. and 4:00 p.m. by the FCC's mailing contractor at 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. All hand deliveries must be held together with rubber bands or fasteners. Any envelopes and boxes must be disposed of before entering the building. • Commercial courier deliveries (any deliveries not by the U.S. Postal Service) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, Annapolis Junction, MD 20701. Filings sent by U.S. Postal Service First-Class Mail, Priority Mail, and Priority Mail Express must be sent to 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554. • <E T="03">People with Disabilities:</E> To request materials in accessible formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic files, audio format), send an email to <E T="03">fcc504@fcc.gov</E> or call the Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-418-0432 (TTY). <FURINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:</HD> For additional information on this proceeding, contact <E T="03">combatcontraband@fcc.gov.</E> </FURINF> <SUPLINF> <HD SOURCE="HED">SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION:</HD> This is a summary of the Commission's Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking ( <E T="03">Third FNPRM</E> ) in GN Docket No. 13-111; FCC 25-65, adopted and released on September 30, 2025. The full text of this document is available for public inspection online at <E T="03">https://docs.fcc.gov/public/attachments/FCC-25-65A1.pdf.</E> <E T="03">Paperwork Reduction Act.</E> This document may contain potential new or revised information collection requirements. If the Commission adopts any new or modified information collection requirements, they will be submitted to the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) for review under section 3507(d) of the PRA. OMB, the general public, and other federal agencies are invited to comment on the new or modified information collection requirements contained in this proceeding. In addition, pursuant to the Small Business Paperwork Relief Act of 2002, the Commission seeks specific comment on how it might “further reduce the information collection burden for small business concerns with fewer than 25 employees.” <E T="03">Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act:</E> The Providing Accountability Through Transparency Act, Public Law 118-9, requires each agency, in providing notice of a rulemaking, to post online a brief plain language summary of the proposed rule. The required summary of this Third Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking is available at <E T="03">https://www.fcc.gov/proposed-rulemakings.</E> <E T="03">Ex Parte Status:</E> The proceeding this Third FNPRM initiates shall be treated as a “permit-but-disclose” proceeding in accordance with the Commission's <E T="03">ex parte</E> rules. Persons making <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations must file a copy of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons making oral <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations are reminded that memoranda summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or otherwise participating in the meeting at which the <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already reflected in the presenter's written comments, memoranda or other filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such data or arguments in his or her prior comments, memoranda, or other filings (specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during <E T="03">ex parte</E> meetings are deemed to be written <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations and must be filed consistent with § 1.1206(b). In proceedings governed by § 1.49(f) or for which the Commission has made available a method of electronic filing, written <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations and memoranda summarizing oral <E T="03">ex parte</E> presentations, and all attachments thereto, must be filed through the electronic comment filing system available for that proceeding, and must be filed in their native format ( <E T="03">e.g.,</E> .doc, .xml, .ppt, searchable .pdf). Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the Commission's <E T="03">ex parte</E> rules. <HD SOURCE="HD1">Synopsis</HD> 1. In this <E T="03">Third FNPRM,</E> the Commission proposes to deauthorize, for purposes of FCC licensing, subscriber operation of contraband wireless devices and leverage its existing leasing process as a preferred approach to licensing jamming solutions, thereby providing correctional officials with additional methods to address a demonstrable public safety threat. The Commission also proposes and seeks comment on restrictions that might prove necessary to ensure that jamming solutions are limited to this targeted use, and to mitigate the risk that these solutions are deployed in contexts other than a correctional facility environment. <HD SOURCE="HD1">A. Definition of Jamming Solution</HD> 2. The Commission proposes to define the term “jamming solution” as “the deployment of RF transmitter(s) within a correctional facility to prevent contraband wireless devices from establishing or maintaining a connection with a network.” This definition is solely applicable in the context of combatting contraband wireless devices in correctional facilities and incorporates the concept that such a solution disrupts a network connection on affected spectrum bands in a specific geographic area. We seek comment on this proposed definition and any alternatives that commenters believe will further this proceeding's goals. To provide clarity for stakeholders regarding both proposed licensing frameworks, <E T="03">i.e.</E> leasing and overlay licensing, we propose to incorporate a definition of a “jamming solution”: (1) as another type of contraband interdiction system (CIS) where appropriate to facilitate leasing arrangements, with certain special provisions solely applicable to jamming solutions where warranted; and (2) to authorize overlay licensees to provide such a solution where certain eligibility criteria are met. <HD SOURCE="HD1">B. Deauthorizing Subscriber Operation of Contraband Wireless Devices</HD> 3. The Commission proposes to address the prohibition in section 333 of the Communications Act by deauthorizing subscriber operation of contraband wireless devices located within a correctional facility. Specifically, the Commission proposes to amend its rules and the rights granted under licenses issued, such that operations in this specific context would not be authorized by the Commission within the meaning of section 333. This approach would allow departments of correction (DOCs) to employ jamming solutions, or other similar technologies, without violating section 333, and would provide an additional tool to prevent criminal activity stemming from unauthorized communications within and to those outside a correctional facility. <HD SOURCE="HD2">1. Subscriber Authority Rule</HD> 4. Under current Commission rules, wireless providers may legally transmit RF signals within the boundaries of their geographic area license, including areas within those boundaries where a ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Preview showing 10k of 134k characters. 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