Global Tel Link asked the Massachusetts Department of Telecommunications and Cable (DTC) on Friday to put its prison calling rate reforms on hold “pending resolution of similar matters before” the FCC (http://1.usa.gov/H6MZjb). The order (CD Sept 30 p9) establishes rate caps and safe harbors for interstate inmate calling services (ICS) and it also included a further NPRM for “further and permanent reforms” on interstate ICS rates, as well as intrastate ICS rate reforms, said GTL. Prisoners’ Legal Services of Massachusetts, which made an initial filing on ICS reforms in 2009, argued that FCC action was needed for ICS rates “to provide national leadership for state regulatory agencies in Massachusetts,” said GTL. The ICS company said PLS has emphasized that the FCC’s ultimate actions regarding ICS rates and services are “important and influential to the Department’s view of these same issues.” The recent appeal by PLS (CD Oct 21 p12) is based on data submitted from the FCC’s ongoing ICS rates proceeding, and it argues for the DTC to follow the FCC’s lead, said GTL. If the DTC were to act on ICS rate reforms, it could “run the risk of adopting rules governing ICS that subsequently may be deemed inconsistent with the FCC’s determinations,” said GTL.
Securus is coming out swinging in response to the FCC order Thursday (CD Sept 27 p20) requiring phone rates to and from correctional institutions be cost-based. “We're well beyond the letter writing stage,” CEO Richard Smith told us Friday. “This is the ‘file a lawsuit’ stage.” The No. 2 U.S. inmate calling service (ICS) provider hopes to file by mid-November. That would give the court time to consider injunctions and restraining orders with respect to the implementation date -- which, barring judicial action, would be 90 days after publication in the Federal Register.
Inmate calling service provider Securus lost a battle at the FCC Thursday. The Wireline Bureau denied its request to be able to block VoIP calls to services such as ConsCallHome, which uses VoIP routing to offer numbers local to the prison, reducing costs to make the call. Acting Chairwoman Mignon Clyburn commended the bureau’s order, and called such services “innovative” and likely to reduce recidivism. “Call blocking is largely antithetical to the fundamental goal of ubiquity and reliability of the telecommunications network,” said the order (http://fcc.us/14MlyDE).
The FCC has approved the transfer of control of Securus’s operating subsidiaries from one holding company to another, but not before Securus agreed to stop blocking inmate-initiated calls placed via “ConsCallHome.” In so doing, the FCC rejected a petition to deny filed by several public interest groups. VoIP provider Millicorp, which runs ConsCallHome, had supported that challenge, arguing Securus was illegally blocking calls to competitive VoIP providers in violation of Sections 201(b) and 202 of the Communications Act, and the FCC’s policy prohibiting call blocking. Millicorp withdrew its opposition after Securus agreed Friday to stop the call blocking.
Inmate calling services and prisoners’ rights groups continued to battle over the proper per-minute rate for calls from jail, in reply comments filed in docket 12-353 Monday and Tuesday. The two largest inmate calling service (ICS) providers, Global Tel*Link and Securus, argued that the commission lacks authority to implement the requested rate reductions, which could bring rates down to 7 cents per minute for interstate calls. Prison rights groups and the Congressional Black Caucus urged action. A December NPRM sought comment on whether to regulate ICS rates, and how to do so without sacrificing security (CD Dec 31 p6).
Global Tel-Link, one of the nation’s largest providers of inmate calling services (ICS), said the FCC “must continue to defer to state and local authorities” on whether prison phone rates are “reasonable” (http://bit.ly/10LEVtT). In response to the FCC’s NPRM on prison phone call reforms (CD Dec 31 p6), GTL sided with state departments of correction and law enforcement groups in defending the rates. The rates which fund “sophisticated security elements,” GTL said, are properly determined by local policymakers. ICS present “unique issues that are not susceptible to one-size-fits-all federal regulation,” the provider said. The FCC does have “broad license” to ensure “just and reasonable” interstate calling rates, “but the power is not absolute,” GTL said. “While the FCC has certain obligations under the Act, the historic regulation of prisons by the states and the unique challenges presented by state prisons and ICS, place regulation of ICS more appropriately with the states.” Dozens of prisoners and Deaf advocacy organizations have urged the FCC to step in (CD March 26 p6).
Don Lewis has spent 23 years as prisoner number 1049536, held by the Virginia Department of Corrections. Phone calls used to be inexpensive, Lewis wrote in careful cursive to the FCC. Not anymore. Lewis has watched as the price of calls increased to $7 for just 20 minutes, beset by a bevy of fees and surcharges. Given the current state of technology, why can’t inmates Skype with family members, he wonders? Why can’t they text? “The state should be encouraging stronger family ties, instead of focusing on the money they make from the misfortunes of others,” he said. “It’s not a lesson you'd want to teach your children."
Broadband’s a civil right to Jesse Jackson, Sr., as are prison payphone rates, he said Tuesday in an annual ethics in telecom lecture. He cited many concerns voiced a day before by FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn on what prisoners and the people they call must pay. “Access to broadband at home and school is not a magic bullet” to solve a gap in education between minorities and other Americans, Jackson said. It’s “a civil rights issue” because “the technology is being positioned as a primary driver of economic opportunity” and social change, he said at the Washington event.
The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation (CDCR) awarded a contract to Global Tel Link (GTL) to eliminate contraband cellphone use by inmates in the state, the agency said. Under the contract, GTL will also provide the inmate/ward telephone system for inmates to make domestic and international calls from an authorized phone network. CDCR expects to have the network fully operational by the end of the year, with other state institutions to follow. GTL will be responsible for all implementation costs. The company said its managed access technology uses a “secure cellular umbrella” over a specified area blocking unauthorized cellular communication transmissions, like emails, texts, phone calls or Internet access.
Technology that forms a radio frequency umbrella intercepting cellphone transmissions inside the Mississippi State Penitentiary should serve as a model for other states, FCC Public Safety Bureau Chief Jamie Barnett said Wednesday. He toured the Mississippi prison accompanied by Chris Epps, state Department of Corrections commissioner, and officials from Global Tel*Link and Tecore Networks, which supplied the technology. The technology is not only lawful but “specifically targets the problem at hand without jeopardizing other essential” communications, including making 911 calls, Barnett said. “Because Mississippi is the first to deploy a managed access system, we at the FCC … spent long hours working with the vendor and wireless carriers to develop and implement the necessary regulatory steps for this novel application,” he said. “We are cautiously optimistic that this technology, perhaps coupled with other applications and approaches, will prove effective in addressing this national problem. I'd like to see what you've accomplished here in Mississippi extended to other state and federal prisons.”