So at the same time I hear complaints about prison phone monopolies I’m hearing people say that American prisons no longer effectively remove someone from society cause they’re full of illicit internet-enabled cellphones

A while ago I heard prisons were seeking to block cell transmissions but the FCC refused them; in the absence of countermeasures it’s a market, I now hear of phones designed with ideal form factor for stashing in your rectum

Which makes me wonder – what’s the politics around cell tower permitting in these rural nowhere prison towns?

Does the local prison-working population, as distinct from “The System”, even mind if companies build infrastructure to serve that market? After all, the biggest source of contraband is prison employees smuggling as a side hustle.

Or are prison towns out in fracking country by definition the kind of place where the ability to make money by hosting something ugly is sacrosanct?