Jammers to stop prison calls

A nine-month trial has begun to test ways to prevent illicit mobile phone use by prison inmates by jamming the calls.

The technology, supplied by Kordia and installed at the Lithgow Correctional Centre in NSW, was begun on 24 September by NSW Minister for Justice Greg Smith SC and Corrective Services NSW (CSNSW) Commissioner Peter Severin, on behalf of prison authorities across Australia.

Mobile phones are regularly found in prisons around Australia and their use often involves serious illegal activity.

Kordia has worked with CSNSW on the system since 2009. Initially, the company provided consultancy services to assist CSNSW in its dealings with ACMA to obtain an exemption from the Act that prohibits the jamming of mobile phones. ACMA issued an exemption to facilitate the trial; the exemption expires on 30 June 2014.

The project uses a distributed antenna system (DAS) to jam phones within the prison but prevent disruption outside the prison. Kordia has provided the DAS design, which has been installed by an independent contractor. Kordia is now activating the jamming system and will run tests to demonstrate its effectiveness and ensure signals outside the prison are unaffected.