RBC learned about the plans of the Federal Penitentiary Service to introduce “jammers” of cellular communications in prisons

The Federal Penitentiary Service (FSIN) of Russia plans to introduce communication blockers in prisons. This issue will be considered at a meeting at the end of December by the State Commission on Radio Frequencies (SCRF), which deals with the distribution of frequencies in the Russian Federation. About it informs RBC with reference to the materials for the meeting, their authenticity was confirmed by the participants of the telecommunications market.

One of RBC’s sources noted that the issue of installing “jammers” in the institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service has been considered for several years, and disputes on this issue do not subside, since blockers interfere with the operation of communications equipment for mobile operators and the military. “The task is to find a mechanism that would make it possible to take into account everyone, which is quite difficult,” the interlocutor explained.

The materials for the meeting do not specify what type of “jammers” they are talking about. There are two of them: noise generators (block communication in a certain range) and radio signal blockers (a special base station that does not allow you to make and receive calls, except for numbers included in a special list).

It is noted that in the first quarter of 2023, the Federal Penitentiary Service must prepare and agree with the Ministry of Defense an application for receiving radio frequencies for blockers. What frequencies are in question, is also not explained.

The Ministry of Digital Transformation noted that some prisons already have jammers, but the problem is that they can interfere outside the Federal Penitentiary Service. The representative of the department said that in order to resolve this issue, it is necessary to determine the frequencies that should be blocked in institutions, and then approve the working conditions of the blockers at the commission.

As RBC notes, the issue of introducing “jammers” in prisons has become relevant in recent years against the backdrop of increased activity of mobile scammers, which are often convicts. In 2018, the SCRF established a working group to find solutions to limit the use of telephones by suspects, accused and convicted persons who are in the institutions of the Federal Penitentiary Service. In 2021, a law was passed, according to which telecom operators can disconnect mobile numbers from the network that are used in prisons for criminal purposes.