CellAntenna Corporation Response to TheVerge.com article Regarding Wi-Fi Blocking Wallpaper

CELLANTENNA RESPONSE TO TheVerge.com article: "Wi-Fi blocking wallpaper improves security without hampering cellphone coverage"

Our company, CellAntenna Corporation, executes engineered solutions to solve RF problems. Our CEO, Howard Melamed, is a Civil Engineer and an expert in the area of RF.

After reading this article, Mr. Melamed pointed out the following:

In our company's experience, RF shielding wallpaper is not a new idea, and is in line with RF resistant paint. These are interesting items, but they simply do not work - they are usually the equivalent to using aluminum foil wallpaper in terms of its ability to boost or block RF signal. The materials never block RF signal consistently. The consistency would indicate that there was an actual solution. These "quick fixes" do not.

In the past, we have incorporated wallpaper, fabric and paint to reinforce existing RF jamming and detection systems. None of these passive items are new, and none of them are truly useful by themselves against RF signal. To outfit a building to block RF is an extensive engineering task.

Radiowaves, especially those that exist in Microwave bands travel through small openings in doors, windows, ceiling tiles and duct work. They come out of electrical outlets, transfer outside of metallic conduits and radiate around window frames. Hence, the application of a simple passive material solution to a complicated problem is ineffective.

Our company has worked with the federal government and international institutions to safely and effectively implement jamming solutions. We are advocates for the legality of jamming by law enforcement to prevent the illegal use of cell phones by criminals.

This product gives the impression that boosting and blocking RF signals is cheap, fast and perfect. These three words cannot exist in the same sentence when it comes to passive jamming.

Cell Phone Jamming Needs To Be Legalized For Local And State Law Enforcement

Contact: Kelly Casey

Corporate Communications Director

CellAntenna Corporation

(954) 510.2219

kcasey@cellantenna.com

 

Cell Phone Jamming Needs To Be Legalized For Local And State Law Enforcement

CEO of CellAntenna cites FCC data that concludes that jamming is not a menace

(May 8, 2012) New Orleans, LA - CEO of CellAntenna Corporation, Howard Melamed, announced today at the CTIA exhibition in New Orleans that cell phone jamming needs to be legalized for state and local law enforcement to prevent criminals from using cell phones for illegal purposes.

According to public data from the FCC (http://www.fcc.gov/encyclopedia/jammer-enforcement), there were only 20 incidences of illegal cell phone jamming enforced under the provisions of the 1934 Communications Act, which allows legal jamming only by the federal government.  None of the FCC citations issued were against any law enforcement agency.  CellAntenna contends that with so few occurrences, jamming appears to be a non-issue or the FCC would take a harsher stance on prosecution.

CellAntenna has urged Congress to introduce legislation that would allow limited use of cell phone jamming equipment by local and state law enforcement and more stringent penalties to members of the public caught illegally acquiring the equipment and using it.  Jamming equipment is able to prevent the use of cell phones by criminals when police activities are ongoing, such as SWAT team operations, inside jails and prisons, and for local and state bomb disposal units.

“The need for cell phone jamming equipment by law enforcement greatly outweighs any threat of public misuse,” stated Melamed.  “Only 20 incidents of jamming were found and prosecuted?  With so few actual citations issued by the FCC for public misuse, there is no reason for the cell phone industry to be afraid of any misuse by local and state law enforcement agencies.”

CellAntenna Corporation has successfully implemented safe and controlled jamming solutions domestically and internationally, including at Cumberland Prison in Maryland as part of a federally sanctioned test by the NTIA.

About CellAntenna

CellAntenna Corporation and affiliate CA WIRELESS provide cell phone signal enhancement in buildings and cell phone control solutions for law enforcement.  CellAntenna signal booster integration has customers worldwide and specializes in distributed antenna systems. CJAM Cell phone jamming, detection and managed access solutions are used by prisons and other security-sensitive customers.  More information available at: http://cellantenna.com.

Advocates Appeal to FCC to Keep Jamming Illegal by Law Enforcement - CellAntenna Disagrees.

Late last week, several groups appealed to the FCC to keep cell phone signal jamming illegal to all levels of government and law enforcement.

CellAntenna advocates legal jamming by law enforcement ONLY.  Because the FCC is incapable of policing illegal cell phone jammers, local governments should be permitted to monitor for illegal jammers and punish those who are using the jammers illegally.  In addition, police officers and SWAT teams should be permitted to jam cell signals when cell phones are being used to conduct criminal activity and endanger the general public.