Australia's first trial of technology to stop prisoners from using mobile phones has been launched in New South Wales.
The trial of phone-jamming technology has been talked about in NSW for 10 years.
Today, with the press of a button, Justice Minister Greg Smith and Corrective Services Commissioner Peter Severin turned on the technology at Lithgow jail, two hours west of Sydney.
The maximum security prison is where convicted killer Bassam Hamzy was being held in 2008 when security cameras captured a mobile phone being passed between cells on a line of dental floss.
Hamzy, who founded the Brothers For Life gang, was ordering brutal kidnappings from inside his cell and making more than 400 calls a day.
In 2009 mobile phones were also found in the cells of gang rapists Bilal and Mohammed Skaf at Goulburn prison.
The State Government says the issue of mobile phones being smuggled into jails is a huge problem across the world, with 200 confiscated in NSW prisons last year.
The Lithgow prison was chosen for the trial in 2009, but the Australian Communications and Media Authority only granted an exemption to allow it to take place at the end of last year.
ACMA issued a declaration in 2011 banning phone jammers because of the inconvenience they could cause and potential danger, either by blocking emergency calls to triple-0 or because of radiation levels emitted by such devices.
The trial will cost more than $1 million and will run for nine months.
Mr Smith says the Hamzy incident had nothing to do with the prison being chosen as the trial site.
"Lithgow was chosen because, partly, this prison is somewhat isolated from the community," Mr Smith said.
"We didn't want to risk interfering with reception in the community, we believe we have a system that won't now.
"Criminals once they're in jail shouldn't be able to illicitly use equipment like mobile phones to pass on instructions to their confederates outside to lead to people being violently dealt with or to cause further crime, drug trafficking, matters of that sort. The security of the jail is threatened by that."