By David Shepardson
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday cut high phone bills for inmates in U.S. prisons and jails, affecting about 2 million inmates and their families.
Under the final rules, the cost of a 15-minute phone call will drop to 90 cents from $11.35 in vast prisons. In compact prisons, it will cost $1.35 from $12.10.
Inmates are not allowed to receive voice calls, but families can arrange video calls through some providers.
Video call costs, including visits, will be capped for the first time at 11 to 25 cents per minute, less than a quarter of current prices. Charges are prohibited. The video call rate will be set at a later date.
The FCC also plans to investigate the issue of video call quality.
Congress passed a law in 2023 giving the FCC broad authority to lower the cost of calling prisoners after the agency’s caps were overturned by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in 2017.
The up-to-date rates address the “unconscionable rates that families of prisoners pay for communications,” FCC Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel said in a statement. “The price of a single call can be the same as many of us pay for an unlimited monthly plan.”
The FCC said it estimates that prisoners, friends, families and inmates will save about $386 million under the change. The FCC will phase in the up-to-date rate limits gradually.
Regular contact with family can reduce the risk of prisoners returning to crime after being released, Rosenworcel noted.
Senator Tammy Duckworth, who championed the bill in Congress, said Thursday the up-to-date rates would put an end to “unfair and unreasonable prison phone rates.”
“For too long, too many families have been forced to spend exorbitant amounts of money to speak to their incarcerated loved ones by phone, depriving children of the comfort of hearing their parents’ voices,” she said.
