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For Incarcerated People, Talk Is Cheap(er)

Incarcerated people will soon be able to call their loved ones for a fraction of what it used to cost after the Federal Communications Commission, which regulates communications, implemented new rules on July 18. Previously, the commission was not able to fully address prison phone calls because it could only cap the prices of interstate calls. But a bill signed into law by President Joe Biden in January 2023 allowed the commission to set a uniform rate for both interstate and intrastate phone calls. The commission was able to cut the rate of prison phone calls to less than half what it is now.

Phone calls will cost a maximum of six to 12 cents per minute depending on the size of the facility, while the cost of video calls will be capped at 11 to 25 cents per minute. Previously, such calls cost an average of six cents to 36 cents per minute in 2022, aside from the states that made prison phone calls free. The rate cap for larger jails will go into effect in January, while the rules for small jails go into effect next April.

Often, a jail or prison will contract with a single phone company, which means incarcerated people and their families don't have any choice but to pay whatever the company demands for its services if they want to communicate with each other. In some cases, the phone company may also share its profits with the facility, though the commission’s new decision also largely banned this practice.