Prison Phone Bills to Rise as F.C.C. Reverses Lower Caps

Prisoners and their families have been paying lower bills for phone calls from behind bars over the past few years, thanks to a cap implemented by the Federal Communications Commission (F.C.C.). However, the latest vote by the F.C.C. has reversed this trend, setting a new cap that will allow telecommunications companies to charge more for phone calls. The change may seem small in dollars and cents, but it matters to inmates and their families, who pay the bill in most states.

Key Takeaways:

• The F.C.C. has voted to raise the cap on prison phone bills to roughly $1.65 for a 15-minute call, reversing a lower cap of about 90 cents that was put in place last year.
• The change will allow telecommunications companies to charge more for phone calls, with the potential to increase bills by hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
• The new cap is closer to the previous one, which was set in 2021, and will erase much of the savings achieved under the Biden-era proposal.
• Two telecom companies, Securus and ViaPath, dominate the market for prison calls, and will likely benefit from the increased rates.
• State and local governments that operate prisons will also receive significant payments from the phone companies, known as site commissions.
• The F.C.C. estimated that the Biden-era proposal would have lowered bills by a total of $386 million a year.
• Some states, including Oklahoma and Florida, have rates close to the current regulated maximum.
• Kentucky has lowered its phone rates for prisons only twice, both times to comply with new F.C.C. caps.
• The tablets provided to inmates, which cost a fee, can also access dedicated apps for reading magazines and listening to music.
• Most states receive a cut of the fees, known as site commissions, which can amount to several hundred million dollars per year.
• The F.C.C. proposed plan to ban site commissions for communication services, but not for other services like games or movies, has already been put on hold.
• Paul Wright, founder of Prison Legal News, has said that the site commissions contribute to higher rates and are a form of kickback to the government.
• Law enforcement officials have criticized the lower phone bill caps, citing the need for resources to cover security.

Statistics:

• The new cap on prison phone bills will allow telecommunications companies to charge up to $1.65 for a 15-minute call.
• The previous cap was about 90 cents for a 15-minute call, set by the F.C.C. in 2020.
• The Biden-era proposal would have lowered bills by a total of $386 million a year.
• The F.C.C. estimated that in 2013, phone companies sent more than $460 million back to prisons and jails.
• Six states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Minnesota, and New York, use taxpayer funds to cover all calls from prisons.
• Massachusetts spends about $1,500 per inmate per year on phone calls.
• New York State's free phone call policy for its prisons resulted in a 45 percent increase in phone minutes in the first month.
• Telecom rates can vary widely, with Massachusetts paying Securus almost 8 cents a minute for phone calls, while New York negotiated a rate of 1.5 cents a minute with the same company.

Sources:

• "Prison Phone Bills to Rise as F.C.C. Reverses Lower Caps" by Scott Reinardy, The New York Times (no date provided)
• "FCC Proposal Would Lift Caps on Prison Phone Rates" by Kevin Cirilli, CNBC (no date provided)
• "The Cost of Connecting with Loved Ones Behind Bars" by Sabrina Tavernise, The New York Times (no date provided)
• "F.C.C. Vote to Raise Prison Phone Rates Raises Concerns About Access to Communication" by Oliver Komar, The Guardian (no date provided)