Inmate Calling Order Appears Imminent, Securus Says
FCC staff told Securus a final order on inmate calling service rules is imminent, said a filing reporting on meetings CEO Dennis Reinhold and others from the company had at the commission. “Securus noted particularly that it met with the…
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three largest law enforcement organizations to seek their active participation in this proceeding,” said the filing in docket 12-375. Securus also said it responded to a recent filing by Pay-Tel on specific proposals for overhauling FCC rules for inmate calls (see 1507140065). Securus “stated its commitment to serving correctional facilities of any size” if the FCC adopts a rate cap that it, Pay-Tel and Global Tel*Link have proposed of 20 cents per minute for prepaid calls and 24 cents per minute for collect calls, the filing said. “Securus will file a more detailed, written response to Pay Tel’s filing very soon,” it said. CenturyLink, meanwhile, "understands the Commission’s interest in inmate calling service reform,” the telco said. “Given legitimate questions about the limits of the Commission’s statutory authority, if reform is to be lasting, it must be reasonable, comprehensive, and sensitive to the interests of all parties -- including inmate families, correctional authorities, and service providers.” CenturyLink said rules should include a uniform rate cap, limits on ancillary fees and commissions, and a transition plan for current service providers. Separate treatment for uniquely high-cost facilities also is important, the company said. “Juvenile detention centers, secure mental health facilities, and small jails are uniquely expensive to serve due to factors like exceptionally low call volume,” CenturyLink said. “While these facilities house vulnerable populations of inmates/residents that deserve the benefit of any regulatory protections the Commission adopts for other inmates, these facilities are particularly costly to serve due primarily to low call volumes.”