Inmate calling services providers asked FCC staff to revise part of a draft order to cut ICS rates ahead of commissioners' meeting Thursday, per filings posted Friday in docket 12-375 (see 2105120031). Securus asked to let providers "establish pilot programs for interstate calls," citing its six ongoing pilots in county jails and one state prison. It asked for different alternative rate structures. NCIC asked to clarify "the transaction fee cap will continue to be $3" for single-service calls or "completely prohibit transaction fees for single calls." Changes to the rate caps should become effective on the same day, Global Tel*Link asked in conversations with commissioners' staff. GTL sought to revise the draft suggesting the company "failed to keep its books and records in a certain manner."
Some inmate calling services providers and advocates back FCC-proposed interim rate caps for interstate and international ICS calls (see 2104280084), said those who spoke with us recently. Some said the commission didn’t go far enough and needs to clarify how site commission payments factor into the new rates. Don't look for big changes between the proposal released April 29 and what commissioners vote for at their May 20 meeting, one official said.
Big inmate calling service providers denied they have ICS monopolies, in Friday California Public Utilities Commission comments. Verizon and consumer groups said inmates can’t choose. Comments in docket R.20-10-002 were on a staff proposal to temporarily adopt FCC 2013 interstate ICS rate caps for intrastate rates, or any new caps the FCC adopts, until the CPUC adopts permanent rates. "That the result of the competitive RFP process results in a sole provider is no indication that ICS providers are monopolists empowered to charge excessive rates,” Securus commented. Global Tel*Link (GTL) said that “the market arises from competition between ICS providers to supply ICS to correctional facilities via a competitive bidding process conducted by the governmental bodies that oversee these institutions.” Verizon, which no longer sells ICS service, wrote that “given that inmates have no other options in service provider, there are certainly monopolistic characteristics.” Inmates lack choice but "the nature of the specialized service in issue distinguishes it" from utility monopolies, said PayTel. “Providers compete, vigorously, for the right to provide service to inmates in confinement facilities, and, in the absence of the agreement of the facility, have no right or ability to provide service to inmates.” The Californians for Jail and Prison Phone Justice Coalition noted a “duopoly,” with Securus and GTL controlling 82% of the market. Securus and GTL said they’re committed to lowering rates. High prices at some jails reflect a provider's internal costs and requirements of "correctional agencies for revenue in the form of site commissions,” Securus said. Intrastate rates above FCC interstate caps “are a consequence of the unique needs of correctional facilities, as determined by the governmental bodies that oversee them,” GTL said. The CPUC should “accord correctional facilities, and the governmental bodies that oversee them, the ‘wide-ranging deference’ necessary to execute the unique arrangements critical to institutional efficiency and security.” The California commission should reduce rates to 5 cents per minute for intrastate voice calls, less than the staff proposal, said the CPUC Public Advocates Office. Current rates in 132 out of 214 California jails are at or below the proposal’s 21 cents interim cap, but a 5 cents cap would benefit people incarcerated in 82 facilities, it said. Incarcerated people and their families told a commission hearing last week rates are too high (see 2104290034).
California rates are too high for inmate calling services, which are a lifeline for incarcerated people and their families, the California Public Utilities Commission was told at a Wednesday hearing. Those incarcerated and their loved ones dialed in to share how ICS pricing disconnected families. Some suggested charging monthly rates for unlimited usage, while others want the calls free.
Global Tel*Link is trying, where possible, to cut the costs of prison calling and pass the savings along to incarcerated people and their families, CEO Deb Alderson told FCC Commissioners Brendan Carr and Nathan Simington and aides to the other commissioners. Alderson “has been sensitive to controlling costs, while also pressing for innovation,” said a filing posted Monday in docket 12-375. “GTL has made significant investment in research and development geared towards new technologies and infrastructure to provide secure communications and keep people connected while maintaining public safety.”
The California Public Utilities Commission scheduled late April hearings to collect feedback on inmate calling services' intrastate rates (see 2011100033). Securus, Global Tel*Link and other ICS providers must give advance notice of the hearings “via several communication channels,” Administrative Law Judge Cathleen Fogel ruled Friday in docket R.20-10-002. The hearings are April 28 at 1:30 p.m. PDT and April 29 at 6:30 p.m. PDT.
"Reconsider its reliance on the endpoint" for an inmate calling service call to determine whether it's intrastate or interstate, NCIC Inmate Communications asked the FCC in docket 12-375, responding to Global Tel*Link's petition for reconsideration of the new standard (see 2012030056). NCIC's reply posted Friday supported GTL's petition and urged the commission to follow its precedent of relying on the area code of a recipient's phone number. GTL said the new rule is "an exercise of unreasonable rulemaking, issued without consideration of the feasibility of its implementation or its effect on state authority."
The Wireline Bureau clarified that replies to opposition on Global Tel*Link's petition for reconsideration of the FCC's 2020 inmate calling services order are due Jan. 21, in a public notice Friday in docket 12-375 (see 2012030056).
The FCC is expected to make some changes on inmate calling services when members vote Thursday (see 2007160072), including adding questions to an NPRM. Staff for commissioners has been discussing tweaks, and talks have been mostly amiable, agency and industry officials said in interviews this week. Providers and proponents of lower calling rates for inmates want changes to the draft, including over how calls are classified. Eighty percent of traffic is classified as intrastate, the rest interstate, and ICS providers warn that could flip based on the order.
The FCC should rule it has authority to impose caps in ancillary fees for inmate calls because they can't be jurisdictionally segregated between interstate and intrastate calls, advocates said in filings posted through Monday in docket 12-375. Worth Rises, the Prisoner Policy Institute and others jointly want quick action due to a "record of rampant abusive charges" by inmate calling service providers. They questioned ancillary fees including for automated payment, live agent, third-party financial transaction and paper bill, saying the charges can increase the costs of phone calls from inmates as much as 40%. "If the Commission does not sustain its previous actions to rein in excessive ICS ancillary service charges, ICS providers will simply return to their old habits, exacting the same outsized payments through different, evolving mechanisms and loopholes," said Pay Tel Communications. Securus doesn't "believe the Commission can reach any conclusion regarding the application of these caps as a generic matter," it said, "since the jurisdiction of any given payment transaction depends on the specific circumstances." Global Tel*Link argued against a one-size-fits-all approach.