Cellphone booster users beware: New regulations could cause you static.
The Federal Communications Commission issued a unanimous ruling on Thursday, Feb. 21 that places new, if very simple and limited, restrictions on the use of cellphone signal boosters; the ruling takes effect immediately. Some mobile users purchase the devices for a little extra oomph.
The biggest change called for by the ruling is the requirement that customers purchasing a new booster register it with their cellphone service providers.
For customers who already use one of these signal boosters, the FCC said in an explanation on their website, that they can continue using their booster until any problems might arise. If a cellphone provider contacts a user with an issue, that customer would be required to shut down the booster until the provider lets them know the issue is resolved and it's safe once again to use the booster.
The main reasoning behind the ruling is to prevent the signal boosters from causing interference for anyone else’s cellphone signal, overriding what could be an important communication, such as a 911 call.
The signal interference issue is actually one of the issues behind the growing trend of using the boosters. Some households, suffering from insufficient signal, have picked up boosters to allow them to make their own emergency calls, because of an ever-shrinking number of landline telephones.
With the boosters, everyone should be able to make their emergency calls, and most of the parties involved seem fairly satisfied with the outcome as well.
"Our goal is to put in place clear rules of the road that enable and authorize signal boosters for consumers as quickly as possible, but as part of a framework that prevents interference. We all said, 'You know what, this is the fastest way to get from A to B. Meanwhile, we're going to monitor this.' We expect it to work but we haven't ruled out other options for the future if for some reason it doesn't,” said Julius Genachowski, FCC chairman.
An AT&T spokesperson told ArsTechnica the company is "pleased that the FCC has adopted technical standards designed to protect our customers from interference caused by signal boosters while allowing well-designed boosters to remain in the marketplace. For these standards to be most effective, however, it is important that they are coupled with appropriate enforcement and consumer outreach.”
Wilson Electronics, a company that manufactures and sells the boosters, said that they weren’t concerned about the new rules.
"Ninety+ carriers already gave blanket approval to boosters that meet the specs. And the [FCC] commissioners were clear about the registration not being cumbersome. They also mentioned that they suspect few people will actually register the products given that consent will already be given," Wilson told ArsTechnica.
Though they liked most of the ruling, Wilson said it thought the registration requirement was unnecessary, and would only affect poorly designed products, not any purchased from Wilson.
