Why are cell tower simulators allowed to use cellular carriers’ licensed frequencies?
AIUI cellular providers have purchased the dedicated* usage of certain frequency bands. So, when police (or other legal professionals) use these devices to monitor** phone calls in an area aren’t they aren’t they using frequencies without permission?
*Yes, I know there’s usually some conditions to these licenses and some requirements of being a common carrier, but these cellular service (even the transition to digital encoding) predates these devices by several years, and I can’t picture the FCC planning that far ahead for it’s impact on other agencies
** by routing all cellular connections to their device and retransmitting it to a normal cell tower
Not just anyone is allowed to use a cell tower simulator. Obviously, the police have broad powers to break the rules that apply to the rest of us. The cell tower simulator box itself is a device legally allowed to transmit on those networks and apparently the authority comes from the FCC somehow. Remember, the wireless company doesn’t “own” those frequencies. They have a license to use them, but that license is just a privilege - ultimately, the Federal government is considered to own the airwaves. I think if you build a faraday cage and do experiments inside of it on private property, only inside that cage does the federal government not own those frequency.
There’s a thick cloak of secrecy around these devices, though, and they depend on hacks that have a limited shelf life. Newer versions of GSM apparently are too encrypted for these devices to work if the wireless company doesn’t supply keys.
As a side note, the wireless company itself will hand out like party favors these micro-cell devices that you can connect to your local internet connection. Though, they have a GPS chip in them - they will refuse to actively transmit on the cellular bands if they do not detect they are in the correct location, since the wireless company only owns licenses to use the cellular bands in a particular area.