The Justice Department Supports More Competition and Lower Prices for Communications from Jails and Prisons

The Justice Department's Antitrust Division today filed comments with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) in support of efforts to lower prices and improve the quality of incarcerated people's communications services (IPCS).

"Telephone services are a lifeline between incarcerated people and the outside world," said Assistant Attorney General Jonathan Kanter of the Justice Department's Antitrust Division. "Regular and reliable communication keeps families connected and reduces recidivism after release. I applaud the FCC for its work over the past decade to make rates and charges for incarcerated people's communications services more fair, just, and reasonable. We encourage the FCC to build on this work as it considers new rules in this area."

Communication with loved ones can improve incarcerated people's wellbeing. It also provides significant benefits to families, especially to children with incarcerated parents. Yet as the department's comment details, a small group of corporations now dominate the market for IPCS. As a result, phone calls in prison and jail are often low quality and prohibitively expensive. In fact, as many as one third of families with incarcerated family members have gone into debt to pay for calls and visits to prisons.

The department's comment, filed as an ex parte submission to assist the FCC in their implementation of the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, suggests a number of regulatory safeguards that would promote competition, better align market incentives and help to lower costs. All of these measures would provide much-needed relief to American families trying to stay connected with incarcerated loved ones.

The Justice Department is committed to protecting the competitive process across the economy, and it has worked actively to promote competition in telecommunications. The department works closely with the FCC to promote competition through review of communications mergers and in other matters, and the department looks forward to continuing its work with the FCC to achieve affordable communications services for incarcerated people and their families.