The partners said standards for the CEO Boosters should be set by industry participants, including manufacturers and carriers. Organizations that installed and operated the CEO boosters would coordinate with the carriers and would have to provide a 24-hour phone number so the devices could be turned off in case of interference.

CTIA, the trade group for U.S. wireless carriers, issued a strongly worded statement along with a proposal demanding technical standards that would completely mitigate harmful interference. "The ongoing illicit use of signal boosters can cause serious disruption to wireless networks and interfere with the vital Public Safety communications," the group wrote.

T-Mobile USA also submitted a comment, saying boosters should be authorized in the same way as handsets and be designed so the carrier can remotely shut the device down or modify its operating parameters. But T-Mobile said it agreed with the FCC's tentative conclusion that older, non-compliant boosters that users already own should be allowed as long as they don't interfere with the carrier network.

The IDG News Service