Groups Urge FCC to Act on Incarcerated People's Communications Services

Advocacy groups urged the FCC to take several steps to revise incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS). The United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry, Worth Rises, the National Consumer Law Center, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights, Amalgamated Policy Research, Public Knowledge and the Wright Petitioners told Wireline Bureau and Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau staff that a model carrier approach would best fulfill the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act's requirement to use "industry-wide average costs" to calculate new rates. The model carrier approach "is in the public interest" and "avoids subsidizing inefficient carriers and unnecessary costs," the groups said in a filing posted Tuesday in docket 23-62. The coalition asked the commission to preempt site commissions and allow states to cap intrastate IPCS rates lower than the FCC's rates. The groups also sought a 30-day transition period for providers to implement the new rates.