FCC votes to cap rates, fees for prison phone calls, service providers threaten to sue

WASHINGTON, DC (WTVB) – Telephone rates for inmates at state prisons in Michigan and across the nation have been called outrageous but that situation could be ending soon. The FCC has voted to cap the rates and fees, and strongly discouraged the providers’ practice of paying commissions to the prison facility in exchange for the phone service contract, fees critics refer to as kickbacks. Aleks Kajstura with the Prison Policy Initiative says the existing prison phone rates are inexcusable. She said there was no cap on how much they were charging, getting $1 a minute while there were programs charging $15 flat rate per call. Also, you could talk for only two minutes and still be charged $15. She also said there were all sorts of fees tacked on, on top of those phone rates. Kajstura stresses that phone calls are a lifeline especially for inmates in rural areas where families may have to drive hundreds of miles to visit a person. She believes all of society benefits when families keep in touch and it reduces recidivism in the end. The issue has been on the FCC’s plate for a decade. Four phone service companies dominate the prison market. They have called this a business-ending event and are threatening to sue the FCC.