Resource: Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, Clarification and Waiver, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

In this item, we exercise the authority granted the Commission by Congress and adopt comprehensive reforms that will significantly reduce the financial burdens incarcerated people face to communicate with their loved ones. We first reduce existing rate caps for all incarcerated people’s audio communication services, by implementing a methodology specifically permitted by Congress in the Act, and establish, for the first time, interim rate caps for incarcerated people’s video communications services. We also materially reduce the prices consumers pay for IPCS by limiting the costs that can be recovered through IPCS rates to only costs that the Commission finds are used and useful in the provision of IPCS. We also permit states to maintain rates lower than the Commission’s rate caps. We next end IPCS providers’ long-standing practice of making site commission payments to carceral facilities, the costs of which were passed through to consumers via higher IPCS rates. We further strengthen the requirements for access to IPCS by incarcerated people with disabilities, and adopt stronger consumer protection rules. We also permit providers, for the first time, to offer optional alternate pricing plans, subject to conditions to protect and benefit IPCS consumers. We issue an Order resolving various petitions pending in this proceeding from our prior orders. Finally, we adopt a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking to obtain evidence necessary to make further progress toward accomplishing the critical work that remains.