"This page is a digitally archived AccessInfo Announcement"
At the July 18, 2024, Open Meeting, the FCC adopted a Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, Clarification and Waiver, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (Order) implementing the requirements of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022 (MWRA) and taking additional actions to further the affordability and accessibility of incarcerated person’s communications services (IPCS).
The MWRA amended the Communications Act of 1934 to require the FCC to ensure just and reasonable charges for “any audio or video communications service used by inmates for the purpose of communicating with individuals outside the correctional institution where the inmate is held, regardless of technology used.” In addition, these services are now included in the definition of “advanced communications services,” which the FCC ensures are accessible to and usable by individuals with disabilities. IPCS using interconnected or non-interconnected VoIP, interoperable video conferencing services, or other audio or video technologies used by inmates now or in the future, will be required to comply with the FCC’s disability accessibility rules.
In the Order, the FCC also takes further action to improve the accessibility of communication services for incarcerated people:
- Authorizing enterprise registration for IP CTS and IP Relay – two forms of telecommunications relay services – provided to incarceration facilities, to ease the burden in making such services available.
- Requiring that charges, rates, and practices for IPCS be disclosed in accessible formats.
- Allowing providers of IPCS to provide access to traditional (TTY-based) TRS via real-time text.
- Clarifying the treatment of TRS-related service under alternative service plans.
- Granting a Petition for Reconsideration to clarify TRS user registration requirements for updating an incarcerated person status after release or transfer to another carceral facility.
Link to the Order:
URL: https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-caps-exorbitant-phone-video-call-rates-incarcerated-persons-their-families
For general information about accessible carceral communications, visit: www.fcc.gov/accessiblecarceralcommunications, and the ASL video is available at: https://youtu.be/xvI5vIhNA8g. For general questions about IPCS, email IPCS@fcc.gov. For additional information about this item, contact Stephen Meil at (202) 418-7233, or via e-mail at Stephen.Meil@fcc.gov. Individuals who use videophones and are fluent in American Sign Language (ASL) may call the FCC’s ASL Consumer Support Line at (844) 432-2275 (videophone).