Advocates, ICS Disagree on Data Collection

Inmate calling service providers and advocacy groups disagreed with some proposed reporting requirements in FCC mandatory data collection, in comments posted Friday (see 2105200044). Including surveillance and security costs is "vital" to determining rate caps, said Worth Rises in docket 12-375, saying the FCC should impose a penalty on ICS providers that "manipulate" those costs. The Prison Policy Institute sought clarity on how security services are defined. The Wright Petitioners, Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and Public Knowledge agreed and urged "robust collection" of data. Securus said security costs are "inextricably intertwined with the provisions of ICS," which Global Tel*Link echoed. Mandatory data collection is "not the proper administrative vehicle for evaluating what categories of security costs are directly related to ICS," GTL said. On a reporting period, advocacy groups and Securus want 2019-2021; NCIC suggested 2021 is "the most relevant year." GTL objected to several aspects of the proposed data collection. It said providers don't maintain sufficient records because they're nondominant competitive carriers and aren't required to do so: The FCC would "foist upon" them accounting and reporting requirements "impossible to satisfy."