The incoming Republican administration and Congress will likely work at rolling back many of the current FCC’s policies through a combination of agency action, court decisions and the Congressional Review Act (CRA), attorneys and analysts told us in interviews. The CRA's threat also will likely limit the current FCC's agenda, they said. “The CRA is kind of looming over anything the FCC wants to try to do before the administration switches over,” said Jeffrey Westling, American Action Forum director-technology and innovation.
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Incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS) providers and public interest groups urged the FCC to revise its proposed rules on rate caps for video IPCS (see 2409200019). Commissioners adopted the Further NPRM in July along with an order lowering rates for audio IPCS and establishing interim rate caps for video IPCS. Providers opposed establishing service quality standards and expanding the definition of a correctional facility in comments posted Tuesday in docket 23-62. Public interest groups sought additional data, allowing more refinement of interim rate caps.
Global Tel*Link's ViaPath asked the FCC to issue an enforcement advisory following an apparent letter another incarcerated people's communications service (IPCS) provider sent to correctional facilities. The letter said the commission's new rules have no effect on the provider's operations because its "application-based services" aren't provided on a per-minute basis (see 2407180039). ViaPath said in a letter Wednesday in docket 23-62 that the "misinformation may also have been circulated to correctional facility customers who are served by other IPCS providers." ViaPath said it "cannot be understated the degree of chaos and confusion being created in the IPCS marketplace by the inaccurate interpretation of the order." The company sought an enforcement advisory clarifying that the rules apply to "all services meeting the revised definition of IPCS regardless of technology, device or transmission format used."
Providers of incarcerated peoples communications services and advocacy organizations welcomed the FCC's efforts to further collect information through the third mandatory data collection (MDC) to establish permanent rates in comments posted Monday in docket 12-375. Most sought minor changes, but disagreed on the granularity of data that should be collected.
Consumer advocacy organizations and inmate calling services (ICS) providers welcomed a draft order expanding access to telecom relay services for deaf or hard of hearing individuals and an FCC Further NPRM that would seek comment on whether the commission should amend its rules for refunds (see 2209080057). Some sought to eliminate the population threshold for facilities to require compliance with the proposed rules. ICS providers raised implementation concerns. Commissioners will consider the item Thursday.
The California Public Utilities Commission stood by a 7-cent cap on intrastate per-minute rates for incarcerated person calling services (IPCS) in state court Wednesday. The Prison Policy Initiative (PPI), also named in a May lawsuit by Securus, said the CPUC’s interim order was “well-reasoned and provides desperately needed relief” to IPCS users. Meanwhile, a California bill to make IPCS calls free and require a CPUC service-quality rulemaking cleared another Assembly committee despite continuing opposition from sheriffs.
California could make jail and prison calls free under a bill cleared Tuesday by the Assembly Public Safety Committee. San Francisco Sheriff Paul Miyamoto disagreed with other county sheriff departments that opposed SB-1008. Meanwhile, at a Senate hearing, ISP associations and Republicans opposed a bill to restrict state contracts only to ISPs that offer affordable internet services.
Consumer groups cheered the California Public Utilities Commission for denying rehearing petitions by prison phone providers of the agency’s August decision to set an interim 7 cents-per-minute intrastate rate cap for incarcerated persons communications services (IPCS) and to eliminate some fees. Securus and NCIC Inmate Communications separately challenged the CPUC decision in September. Securus said the PUC decision in docket R.20-10-002 was legally and factually flawed and undermined the commission’s goal of providing affordable IPCS services (see 2109230035). NCIC the same month said its costs could exceed revenue under the order and argued the cap shouldn’t apply to any facility with fewer than 1,000 average daily population (see 2109210080). Even without using a contract between Global Tel*Link and the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation as a benchmark, the interim rate cap “is based on substantial evidence,” said the CPUC’s final decision released Monday. “The evidence in the record shows that a $0.05 per minute rate is feasible to achieve in jails and, overall, there is a downward trend in rates across both California and the US.” Prison Policy Institute thinks “the CPUC made the right decision,” emailed General Counsel Stephen Raher. “The best thing for parties, consumers, and correctional facilities is to move forward with the next phase of this proceeding. There is plenty of work remaining to be done, and we will continue to press for rate justice for all types of correctional telecommunications services.” Securus and NCIC rehearing applications “were a transparent attempt to delay the Commission’s action so that IPCS providers could continue to gouge incarcerated people and their families and support networks,” emailed Paul Goodman, Center for Accessible Technology (CforAT) legal counsel. “The Commission properly found that the providers could not refuse to turn over information about their actual costs of providing service, and then argue that the ample evidence provided by other parties about the costs of providing service were insufficiently reliable.” The Utility Reform Network Managing Director-Telecom Brenda Villanueva emailed that the CPUC’s decision was “supported in the record despite the claims asserted. Parties had repeated and ample opportunities to weigh in and provide data.” NCIC CEO Bill Pope is disappointed that the CPUC "disregarded a decade’s worth of the FCC’s work, including data collected, conducting actual cost analyses" and workshops with incarcerated people's communications providers and organizations managing correctional facilities, he emailed. Securus didn't comment.
Consumer and prison inmate advocates urged the California Public Utilities Commission to regulate video calling and other non-voice services used by incarcerated people to communicate with their families. But big inmate calling service (ICS) providers said Friday the CPUC can’t regulate those products because they're Title I information services under the 1996 Telecom Act.
Securus' subscription plans for inmate calling services "benefit incarcerated persons and their loved ones, as feedback on the pilot programs confirms," it said in comments Monday in docket 12-375 on a petition for waiver of FCC rules requiring interstate and indeterminate calls to be charged at per-minute rates (see 2111220049). Others sought additional information and asked the FCC to require that the plans be offered on a per-minute basis.