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The Big Story
FCC lowers rates for jail phone calls
Rate caps on calls from incarcerated people will be lowered based on a rule the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) adopted during a Thursday meeting.
© Greg Nash
The rule will lower call rates for individuals at correctional facilities to help ease communication between incarcerated individuals with friends, family and others.
The new rules would lower the cost of a 15-minute phone call from as much as $11.35to $.90 at a large jail, and from $12.10 to $1.35 at a small jail, according to the FCC.
The rules also establish for the first time a per-minute rate cap for video calls to drop the prices based on consumers’ usage.
In addition to cutting the audio rate caps per-minute by more than half, the rules also simplify the pricing structure while incorporating the costs of ancillary services into the rate caps, according to the FCC.
The rules also aim to lower prices consumers pay by eliminating the ability to impose separate ancillary service charges.
The FCC’s vote comes after President Biden signed a law last year that clarified that the agency has the authority to regulate call rates at correctional facilities. The FCC’s previous action seeking to set such limits were blocked in court, limiting the agency from setting limits for intrastate calls.
FCC Chair Jessica Rosenworcel and other members of the commission praised the late Martha Wright-Reed, the namesake of the law clarifying the FCC’s authority to set the limits, for her advocacy in pushing for the changes. Wright filed a petition calling for the agency take action on the high rates as she was trying to maintain communication with her grandson, who was incarcerated.
Read more in a report at TheHill.com.
Welcome to The Hill’s Technology newsletter, we’re Rebecca Klar and Julia Shapero — tracking the latest moves from Capitol Hill to Silicon Valley.
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Essential Reads
How policy will be impacting the tech sector now and in the future:
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Finance, housing sectors ripe for AI regulation: Congressional committee
Housing and high finance are the two sectors of the economy where government regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) is most needed, a House Financial Services Committee working group has concluded after a series of meetings with industry players. The working group said the committee should “play a leading role in overseeing the adoption of A.I. in the financial services and housing industries” in a new report. The report… Full Story |
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The Refresh
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In Other News
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