Prison Phone Providers Seek Fee Waiver on Calls Amid Coronavirus

As prisoners increase their reliance on phone visits during the new coronavirus, telecommunications companies are asking the Federal Communications Commission to waive a fee on inmates’ interstate and international calls. The push by Securus Technologies LLC and Network Communications International Corp. highlights a years-long policy debate at the FCC over how to rein in prison call rates. The phone providers must pay a fee equal to 20% of revenue from every interstate and international prison call to the FCC’s Universal Service Fund. The fund subsidizes phone and broadband service for low-income Americans, schools, telehealth and rural areas. The providers pass along the fee to their customers.

Some advocates are opposed, and it’s not clear whether the FCC will grant the providers’ request. “From what I see, the relief is not warranted, but they are granting a lot of waivers,” former Democratic FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn said, referring to the Securus petition. Consumer advocacy groups, including Worth Rises, Media Justice and OC Inc., the advocacy arm of the United Church of Christ, say prisoners can ill-afford expensive phone calls during the pandemic. The groups oppose the phone companies’ fee-waiver requests, arguing that the providers are unlikely to share the savings with customers. They argue that the companies should still be charged the fee, but not be allowed to pass the cost onto their customers.