By Mario Trujillo
The Hill
The largest players in the prison pay phone industry made a last-minute blitz against a set of regulatory changes that they predict will have a “devastating” effect on their business.
In meetings and letters to the Federal Communications Commission, the industry leaders threatened legal action if the rules to cap inmate phone rates are not changed before a vote next week. Rather than taking specific issue with the price caps, the companies have targeted another portion of the order dealing with so-called kickbacks that they generally pay prisons to house the phones.
The push for change is coming from Securus Technologies, Telmate and Global Tel Link. The companies take in more than 90 percent of all the revenue in the inmate pay phone industry. Another company PayTel, which operates in smaller jails, has also lobbied for the changes.
Full Story: Inmate phone providers threaten legal action over new rules