Wireless cell phone booster are saving the carriers money

Major carriers haven't said how the registration process will work, but one conceivable outcome is that they could charge customers an extra fee to use cell phone booster, like they do with other devices that improve signals.

Wireless boosters are "saving the carriers money by not making them build more towers, but now they can charge you for improving the holes in their own network," Feld said.

Requiring a specific carrier's permission is odd, because a wireless booster can be used to improve signals on just about any network, said Michael Calabrese, director of the Wireless Future Project at the New America Foundation. Calabrese helped advise the government on its recent spectrum sharing plan. "97 percent of the cell phone booster sold are wideband boosters, meaning they amplify the signals of all carriers equally," Calabrese told Ars. "For some reason, the commission has delegated authority to the carrier."

Feld accused the FCC of rolling over for carriers by giving them the right to reject wireless boosters that customers want to use. Calabrese called it "profoundly anti-consumer." Besides charging monthly fees, Calabrese said carriers could strike exclusive deals with device makers to make sure they get a cut of each device sale.

"They could change their mind at any point, and enter into a royalty agreement with a particular booster maker," he said.Feld explains that the boosters take your cellular signal and increase its power so that it reaches a cell tower (whereas femtocells work by taking your cellular signal and dumping it onto your home wireline network). Wireless boosters could be particularly useful in rural areas and in emergency situations, when one tower is down but the booster allows a connection to a further tower, he said.

Our Boosters do not interfere with the wireless providers' networks—consumers can continue using them and look for the notice their provider will send them regarding registration of the product with them.")If carriers are stingy with device approvals, households with subscriptions to multiple carriers could have to purchase one cell phone booster for each carrier—even though there's no technical reason preventing a single booster from covering phones from multiple carriers.

Even though consumers have to register devices they already bought, booster manufacturers were given one year to clear out existing inventory before they have to sell new hardware that meets the interference rules. If they can keep selling existing devices, it's difficult to imagine they've caused cellular providers too much trouble. 

In addition to consumer-strength boosters for homes, small offices, and vehicles, there are industrial-strength wireless boosters designed for airports, hospitals, stadiums, etc. Excel Wireless cell phone booster have to meet stricter interference standards because they transmit at higher power levels than consumer-grade ones, and anyone who operates an industrial-class booster will need an FCC license.

Carriers both large and small have reportedly assured the FCC that they won't be unreasonable in providing approval for use of consumer-grade boosters.