Carr Plans Oct. 28 Vote on Prison-Calling Rules
FCC Chairman Brendan Carr said Friday that he will seek a vote at the Oct. 28 open meeting on revisions to incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) rules, which were approved with his vote during the Biden administration. Last month, the FCC said commissioners would vote at the meeting in a filing at the 1st U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which is reviewing challenges to the 2024 order (see 2509080034).
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In a move that came as a surprise to prisoner advocates, the Wireline Bureau in June delayed some IPCS deadlines until April 1, 2027, and said the commission would consider changes to the rules (see 2507310049).
“The item would set, on an interim basis, rate caps for IPCS that allow for the full inclusion of safety and security costs to correctional facilities and IPCS providers, consistent with the statute,” an FCC news release said Friday. It would “also seek comment on other changes to the IPCS framework to ensure the continued availability of IPCS for incarcerated people at rates that are just and reasonable as required by the Martha Wright-Reed Act.”
The FCC has tried for years “to adopt rates for inmate calling services that are at once just and reasonable for consumers and fair for providers and law enforcement agencies,” Carr said in the release. “The FCC has yet to find a path forward that is both lawful and sustainable over the long run. The FCC’s latest 2024 effort at rate setting is one such example. In aiming to significantly drop rates for consumers, the agency’s decision generated negative, unintended consequences.”