Incarcerated People’s Communications Services (formerly Inmate Calling Services)

Incarcerated People’s Communications Services (formerly Inmate Calling Services)

Incarcerated people have no choice in the selection of their communications services provider.  The authorities responsible for prisons, jails, or other types of detention facilities typically negotiate with the providers of incarcerated people’s communications services (IPCS) and select a provider without input from the incarcerated people who will use the service. Once the facility makes its choice—often resulting in contracts with providers lasting several years—incarcerated people have no means to switch to another provider, even if the chosen provider charges unreasonable rates, imposes additional fees, adopts unreasonable terms and conditions for use of the service, or offers inferior service. Thus, providers of communications services to incarcerated people have monopoly power in the facilities they serve.

Egregiously high rates and charges and associated unreasonable practices for the most basic and essential communications capabilities impede incarcerated people’s ability to stay connected with their loved ones and financially burdens incarcerated people and their families that pay for these services.  The Commission has long recognized the far-ranging consequences that unreasonably high calling rates inflict on incarcerated people, their families, and society as a whole.   

Historically, the Commission used the term “inmate calling services” or “ICS” when referring to phone services provided to incarcerated people.  In 2023, the Commission began using the term “incarcerated people’s communications services” or “IPCS” instead of “inmate calling services” or “ICS” to refer to the broader range of communications services now subject to the Commission’s jurisdiction as a result of the enactment of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022. 

A historical description of Commission and Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) actions taken prior to the enactment of the Martha Wright-Reed Act are provided [here].

The Martha Wright-Reed Act

On January 5, 2023, the President signed into law the Martha Wright-Reed Act.  The Act removed the principal statutory limitations that had prevented the Commission from setting comprehensive and effective just and reasonable rates for IPCS. 

Specifically, the Martha Wright-Reed Act: 

• Modified section 276 of the Communications Act, which is a source of the Commission’s statutory authority over communications services provided to incarcerated people, to explicitly enable the Commission to require that rates for incarcerated people’s communications services be just and reasonable, irrespective of the “calling device” used; 
• Explicitly provided the Commission with jurisdiction over advanced communications services used by incarcerated people, including “any audio or video communications service used by inmates . . . regardless of technology used.” 
• Made clear that the Commission’s jurisdiction extends to intrastate as well as interstate and international communications services used by incarcerated people; 
• Expressly allowed the Commission to “use industry-wide average costs,” as well as the “average costs of service of a communications service provider” in setting just and reasonable rates;
• Stated that the Commission “shall consider,” as part of its ratemaking, “costs associated with any safety and security measures necessary to provide” telephone service and advanced communications services; and 
• Directed the Commission to promulgate regulations necessary to implement the statutory provisions not earlier than 18 months and not later than 24 months after the date of its enactment. 

Commission Implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed Act

On March 17, 2023, the Commission released the 2023 IPCS Notice and 2023 IPCS Order in a new docket, WC Docket No. 23-62, and the existing docket, WC Docket No. 12-375, to begin implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed Act.  The 2023 IPCS Notice primarily sought comment on how the Commission should interpret the Act’s language to ensure that the Commission implements the statute in a manner that fulfills Congress’s intent.  

On July 22, 2024, the Commission released the 2024 IPCS Order to implement the Martha Wright-Reed Act.  The 2024 IPCS Order adopted comprehensive reforms to the Commission’s IPCS rules, including the following major actions:

• Utilized the expanded authority Congress granted the Commission to adopt “just and reasonable” IPCS rates and charges for all intrastate, interstate, and international audio and video IPCS, including video visitation services;
• Significantly lowered existing per-minute rate caps for audio IPCS and established initial interim per-minute rate caps for video IPCS, based on industry-wide cost data submitted by IPCS providers, while permitting states to maintain IPCS rates lower than the Commission’s rate caps;
• Lowered the overall prices consumers pay for IPCS and simplified the pricing structure by incorporating the costs of ancillary services in the rate caps and prohibiting providers from imposing any separate ancillary service charges on IPCS consumers;
• Prohibited IPCS providers from making site commission payments for IPCS and preempted state and local laws and regulations requiring such commissions;
• Limited the costs associated with safety and security measures that can be recovered in the per-minute rates to only those costs that the Commission found are used and useful in the provision of IPCS; 
• Allowed, subject to conditions, IPCS providers to offer alternate pricing plans for IPCS that comply with the rate caps established;*
• Revised and strengthened accessibility requirements for IPCS for incarcerated people with disabilities;*
• Revised and strengthened existing consumer disclosure and inactive account requirements;* and
• Revised the existing annual reporting and certification requirements.*

[*  Indicates rules adopted by the 2024 IPCS Order to be reviewed by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) under the Paperwork Reduction Act (PRA) in order to become effective.  This webpage will be updated with the effective date of those rules once OMB completes its review.] 

Rate Caps:  The rate caps described below apply to all intrastate, interstate and international audio and video communications from correctional institutions, but the new caps are subject to varying compliance dates as explained below. 

International Rates:  For international audio IPCS calling, the Commission set rate caps based on the applicable interstate cap plus the charge for terminating a call to the foreign destination.  The Commission did not adopt a termination charge component for international video IPCS calling.

Site Commissions:  Prior to the 2024 IPCS Order, many contracts between providers and correctional institutions required that the providers share significant portions their IPCS revenues with the correctional institutions as “site commissions.”  In the 2024 IPCS Order, the Commission found that site commissions—defined as payments from IPCS providers to correctional facilities that are not used and useful in the provision of IPCS—are not part of the cost of providing IPCS.  The Commission therefore excluded site commission payments from the cost data it used in setting rate caps, prohibited IPCS providers from making site commission payments for IPCS, and preempted state and local laws and regulations requiring such commissions. 

Additional Service Charges:  Prior to the adoption of the 2024 IPCS Order, providers commonly assessed different types of service charges and fees in addition to the rates charged for IPCS service.  The Commission banned these separately assessed “ancillary service charges” in the 2024 IPCS Order.  Providers now recover their costs of providing ancillary services through IPCS rates and are prohibited from imposing any separate ancillary service charges on IPCS consumers.  

Compliance Dates:  The Commission’s rules prohibiting IPCS providers from paying site commissions and its permanent audio and interim video IPCS rate caps became effective on November 19, 2024.  However, IPCS providers are required to come into compliance with those rules on a staggered basis, beginning as early as January 1, 2025 and ending no later than April 1, 2026. 

The compliance deadlines vary based on the following factors:

1. The type (prison or jail) and size (ADP) of the facility; 
2. Whether an IPCS provider has a contract to provide IPCS at a correctional facility that existed as of June 27, 2024 that includes terms and conditions that conflict with the Commission’s new IPCS rules involving audio or video IPCS rate caps, the inclusion of charges passed through to IPCS consumers in IPCS rates, or the elimination of site commission payments negotiated with a correctional facility; and 
3. Whether an IPCS provider has a contract to provide IPCS at a correctional facility that existed as of June 27, 2024 that includes terms and conditions incorporating site commissions required by state or local law. 

These staggered compliance dates, which are shown in the table below, are meant to allow IPCS providers and correctional facilities sufficient time to renegotiate their contracts to comply with the Commission’s new rules.

For purposes of the above compliance dates, a contract expires at the end of the initial term of the contract and not after any automatic extension that may be included in the contract language that would extend the duration of the contract beyond its initial term. 

2024 IPCS Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking: In the 2024 IPCS FNPRM that accompanied the 2024 IPCS Order, the Commission sought comment on certain additional questions, including establishing permanent rate caps for video IPCS, further disaggregating the very small jail rate tier, quality of service issues, expanding the definitions of prisons and jails, the treatment of unused balances in IPCS accounts, and a uniform additive to account for correctional facility costs. 

Bureau Implementation of Commission Actions 

Since the enactment of the Martha Wright-Reed Act, the Wireline Competition Bureau has taken certain actions to facilitate Commission implementation of the Act. 

• 2023 Mandatory Data Collection:  An Order accompanying the 2023 IPCS Notice directed the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB) and the Office of Economics and Analytics (OEA) to update and restructure a previous collection of provider data to inform the Commission’s implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed Act.  On July 26, 2023, WCB and OEA released an Order adopting instructions, a reporting template, and a certification form for this updated 2023 Mandatory Data Collection.  The Order required all IPCS providers to file their responses to this 2023 Mandatory Data Collection no later than October 31, 2023.  The Commission used the provider data in setting permanent rates for audio IPCS and interim rates for video IPCS in the 2024 IPCS Order. 

• IPCS Annual Reports and Certifications:  Since 2013, the Commission has required IPCS providers to file annually certain pricing and related data to promote transparency and heighten providers’ accountability.  These annual reports enable the Commission and the public to monitor pricing practices and trends in the IPCS marketplace generally.  In subsequent orders, the Commission delegated authority to the Bureau to modify, supplement and update the annual reports.  On August 3, 2023, WCB and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) jointly released a Public Notice seeking comment on proposed revisions to the Annual Reports and Annual Certifications that the Commission requires certain providers of IPCS to submit. 

On September 11, 2024, and in light of the release of the 2024 IPCS Order, WCB and the Consumer and Governmental Affairs Bureau (CGB) jointly released a Public Notice seeking additional comment to refresh the record on proposed revisions to the Annual Reports and Annual Certifications. 

On January 8, 2025, WCB and CGB jointly released an order revising the IPCS Annual Reports and Annual Certification, expanding the data collection to include video IPCS and significantly streamlining other portions of the data collection. 

• Stay Requests:  During October 2024, WCB released four orders denying requests to stay key aspects of the 2024 IPCS Order sought by various parties.
• Waiver Request: On December 19, 2024, WCB released an order partially granting a request filed by Securus Technologies for a limited, temporary waiver of the Commission's IPCS per-minute pricing rules for its video IPCS offerings.  
   

Major Rulemaking Notices and Orders

Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, Clarification and Waiver, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2024)

Martha Wright-Reed Act Implementation Notice of Proposed Rulemaking and Order (2023)

ICS Fourth Report and Order and Sixth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2022)

Third Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Fifth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2021)

Report and Order on Remand and Fourth Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (2020)

WCB Seeks Comment on Charges for Ancillary Services for Inmate Calling (2020)

Other Orders

Annual Reports Order (2025)

Securus Waiver Order (2024)

NSA Stay Order (2024)

HomeWAV Stay Order (2024)

Pay Tel Stay Order (2024)

Securus Stay Order (2024)

WCB Adopts IPCS Protective Order (2023)

Annual Reporting and Certification

• 2025 IPCS Annual Reporting Instructions (Pending OMB Approval)
• 2025 IPCS Annual Reporting Word Template (Pending OMB Approval)
• 2025 IPCS Annual Reporting Excel Template (Pending OMB Approval)
• 2025 IPCS Annual Reporting Certification Form (Pending OMB Approval)
• ICS Annual Reporting and Certification Instructions (Current)
• ICS Annual Reporting Form Word Template (Appendix A) (Current)
• ICS Annual Reporting Form Excel Template (Appendix B) (Current)
• ICS Annual Reporting Certification Form (Appendix C) (Current)

Mandatory Data Collections

2023 IPCS Mandatory Data Collection

• 2023 IPCS MDC
• 2023IPCS Instructions
• IPCS Word Template
• 2023 IPCS Excel Template
• IPCS Certification Form

Third Mandatory Data Collection

• ICS Third Mandatory Data Collection Instructions (2022)
• ICS Third Mandatory Data Collection Word Template (Appendix A) (2022)
• ICS Third Mandatory Data Collection Excel Template (Appendix B) (2022)
• ICS Third Mandatory Data Collection Certification (Appendix C) (2022)

Second Mandatory Data Collection

• ICS Second Data Request Template
• ICS Second One-Time Data Collection Form Instructions

First Mandatory Data Collection

• ICS First Data Request Template
• ICS First One-Time Data Collection Form Instructions
• Ord Granting Extension Requests in Part