Jammers trial proposed for NSW gaol

The Australian Communications Media Authority (ACMA) is seeking comment on a proposal to use mobile phone jammers in a two-year trial at Goulburn Correctional Complex in NSW.

Following the previously successful 2013 trial of jammers at the NSW Lithgow Correctional Centre — with technology supplied by Kordia that used a distributed antenna system (DAS) to jam phones internally but prevent disruption outside the prison — ACMA is proposing the Goulburn gaol initiative in order to provide more information about the benefits and risks of the use of jammers in correctional facilities.

Mobile phones have been used by inmates in prisons around Australia and their use often involves serious illegal activity, including threatening victims of crime and witnesses, organising violence, accessing drugs or photographing staff and the environment within facilities.

It is for these reasons that corrective services authorities around the world have considered, or at times deployed, mobile phone jammers within prisons.

However, jammers carry the risk of potentially disrupting legitimate mobile phone usage by members of the community beyond the perimeter of a facility.

The consultation paper released by ACMA therefore asks for comment on a number of key considerations, including which features of the radiocommunications and physical environment around the Goulburn facility should be taken into account when developing the conditions for the proposed trial.

Consultations close on 16 June 2016. For further information or to comment, click here.

Image courtesy of ACMA