FCC Reopens Comment Cycle on Talton Prison-Calling Waiver
The FCC Wireline Bureau on Thursday posted new filing deadlines for a Talton petition seeking a waiver of the commission’s rules capping the rates for audio and video for incarcerated people provided to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Comments are now due May 8, replies May 15, in docket 23-62. The bureau suspended earlier deadlines on the petition (see 2504170020) after public interest groups, led by the United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, objected to Talton’s request for confidential treatment.
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Talton this week refiled its petition, “modifying and reducing the redactions therein,” the bureau said. “The deadlines we adopt today will afford interested parties additional time for review of and response to Talton’s Petition.”
In the revised petition, Talton described itself as a small telecom contractor located in Selma, Alabama. “Despite its modest size, Talton has an important and proactive relationship with ICE -- the Department of Homeland Security’s largest investigative division,” the company said. “Talton originally won its national contract for the installation and maintenance of telephone services at ICE facilities in 2009, and the company has continuously provided [prison-calling] services at ICE facilities ever since.”