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| FCC Will Cap Prison Phone Rates And That's Bad News For These Two Tech Companies |
| By ibtimes.com- Eric Markowitz |
| Published: 10/22/2015 |
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Every time Joanne Jones picks up the phone to call her son in Texas, she cringes thinking about how much it’ll cost her. That’s because Jones’ son, Nate, is currently locked up in a Texas county jail -- and jail phone calls are notoriously expensive. A 15-minute call costs Jones $10, not including additional fees she’ll be charged. But that may soon change. Today, regulators at the Federal Communications Commission are expected to vote on new rules that will cap the phone rates and fees private prison companies are allowed to charge inmates and their families. The ruling will dismantle a lucrative partnership between U.S. prisons and two private tech companies that dominate the prison calling business, Securus Technologies and Global Tel*Link (GTL). Since the early 1990s, when private companies took over jail and prison phones, the prices to keep in touch have soared. That's because cash-strapped jails have contracted with a few tech firms like Securus and GTL to provide calling services to inmates. The tech firms get a lucrative contract and the jail gets a cut of the proceeds. Some prisons have eliminated old-fashioned phone calls altogether in favor of video calling. Read More. |
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