Clyburn, McSweeny Want FCC, Others to Fix Inmate Calling Market; Pai Vows Collaboration
The FCC and others must repair the "broken" inmate calling service market, said FCC Commissioner Mignon Clyburn and FTC Commissioner Terrell McSweeny Thursday. They said the FCC majority "remains silent," despite a commitment by Chairman Ajit Pai to act, after…
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a court overturned key decisions by the prior commission to limit ICS rates and fees. "The FCC should end the practice of picking and choosing, ignoring and punting, while an unarguably dysfunctional market regime preys on the most vulnerable," Clyburn and McSweeny commented in Wired. "The FCC can and should adopt targeted rules to address the costs of interstate calls. States and localities can and should reform their practices to cap rates and eliminate kickbacks. And Congress can and should enact a legislative solution that provides a firm legal foundation for further inmate calling reforms." Large ICS providers "are willing to skirt rules" for a profit, they wrote. "For instance, when the FCC banned the practice of charging exorbitant fees to connect calls, the companies simply renamed the fees, calling them 'first minute' charges." An FCC spokeswoman emailed: "Chairman Pai is committed to working with his colleagues at the Commission, Congress, and all stakeholders to address the problem of high inmate calling rates in a lawful manner once the court cases are resolved. But contrary to what was written ... challenges to the 2013 and 2016 orders are still pending before the D.C. Circuit, thus limiting the Commission’s ability to address these issues at this time. That court has instructed the parties to file motions addressing those cases by November 6." Wright Petitioners have urged the FCC to impose restrictive conditions on Securus first-minute charges in its planned sale to SCRS Acquisition (see 1710030033). An FCC draft order circulated to commissioners (see 1710130053). Securus didn't comment.