You’re reading the Benton Institute for Broadband & Society’s Weekly Digest, a recap of the biggest (or most overlooked) broadband stories of the week. The digest is delivered via e-mail each Friday.

Round-Up for the Week of October 27-31, 2025

The Federal Communications Commission's October 28 Open Meeting was…productive. The FCC ushered in changes to space licensing and satellite infrastructure procedures, removed a swath of wireless rules, and launched a proceeding to overhaul current broadband label requirements, which may significantly impact the information consumers have available to them when subscribing to broadband plans.

However, another major piece of news coming from the meeting is the FCC's vote on a Report and Order, Order on Reconsideration, and Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking regarding the Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022, a law enacted to ensure just and reasonable charges for telephone and advanced communications services in correctional and detention facilities across the country. The FCC's actions this week entail a revision of its current rules and the implementation of rules governing the communications services of incarcerated people (IPCS), including changes to rate caps and rate additives that take effect immediately.

The Martha Wright-Reed Act

A brief refresher: The Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022 (Martha Wright-Reed Act) expands the FCC’s jurisdiction over different kinds of prison communications and the rates and fees associated with those services. The law grants the FCC regulatory authority over the rates and fees charged for both interstate and intrastate services, and expands the definition of the communications technologies under that authority.

In July 2024, the FCC voted on new rules around IPCS services in accordance with the Martha Wright-Reed Act. IPCS rules were revised to:

• Reduce the per-minute rate caps for interstate and international audio IPCS, adopt permanent rate caps for intrastate audio IPCS, and establish, for the first time, interim per-minute rate caps for video IPCS;
• Prohibit providers from making site commission payments associated with IPCS; and
• Extend the per-minute pricing rule, which previously had been enforceable only with regard to interstate and international audio IPCS, to also apply to intrastate audio IPCS and to video IPCS. 

Under the 2024 rules, the new call rates were to be $0.06 per minute for prisons and large jails, $0.07 for medium jails, $0.09 for small jails, and $0.12 for very small jails, and as low as $0.11/minute for video calls, with a requirement that per-minute rates be offered. The cost of a 15-minute phone call would drop to $0.90 from as much as $11.35 in large jails and, in small jails, to $1.35 from $12.10.

Following the 2024 order, IPCS providers, states and sheriffs, and public interest advocates filed petitions for review. These petitions challenged various aspects of the Order, including the rate caps, treatment of safety and security costs, and the banning of site commissions. Petitions varied from requests for judicial review of the 2024 order to petitions for agency reconsideration.

On June 30, 2025, one week after Commissioner Olivia Trusty was sworn in (giving the FCC a 2-1 Republican majority), the Commission released an order temporarily waiving the deadlines to comply with the rate cap, site commission, and per-minute pricing rules adopted in 2024. The June order stated that the delay was needed to "ensure sufficient funding for safety and security tools, while IPCS providers and the facilities they serve address the challenges of implementing these requirements." The June order also claimed that the "ongoing implementation challenges and the resulting risks to safety and security greatly exceed what the [FCC] considered or anticipated when it adopted the 2024 IPCS Order," and that this waiver would maintain IPCS services while the FCC considered further actions to reevaluate the 2024 rules, which were required by the Martha Wright-Reed Act.

This week, the FCC made good on its promise: the 2-1 vote (Chairman Brendan Carr and Commissioner Trusty approving, and Commissioner Anna Gomez dissenting) officially launched proceedings to revise the 2024 rules.

Major Changes: The Report and Order

The FCC's decision this week initiates two separate processes: a Report and Order and an Order on Reconsideration, along with a Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking.

In the Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration, the FCC adopted four key methodological revisions:

• Exclude Unbilled Minutes: Only billed minutes will be counted when calculating costs (not free/unbilled calls), because providers get no revenue from those minutes.
• New "Extremely Small Jail" Tier: The smallest jail category will be split into:
  • Very Small Jails: 50-99 average daily population (ADP).
  • Extremely Small Jails: 0-49 ADP (a new tier with higher rates to reflect higher per-minute costs).
• Include All Safety & Security Costs: The FCC's rules previously excluded five of the seven cost categories; the rules now include all reported safety/security expenses in rate calculations.
• Add $0.02/Minute Facility Cost Additive: This is a separate charge (on top of base rates) to reimburse correctional facilities for their IPCS-related costs.

New Interim Rate Caps

The revised audio and video IPCS rate caps are:

The rate caps established in the Report and Order are interim, acknowledging the limitations of the data submitted and allowing the FCC to seek further comment before setting permanent rate caps.

Why These Changes?

The FCC is implementing these changes in response to several real-world problems reported after the 2024 rules were implemented. These include:

• Some internet service providers (ISPs) stopped serving small rural jails, saying it's uneconomical under the low rates.

• Some facilities eliminated phone service entirely.

• Some facilities couldn't afford safety/security monitoring tools, and

• Rate caps didn't account for higher costs in rural areas with limited broadband service.

Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking

In the Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (FNPR), the FCC seeks comment on:

• Permanent rate caps for audio and video calls: How can the FCC best adopt permanent rate caps for audio and video IPCS that are just, reasonable, and fairly compensatory? What time frame for implementing any such rate caps should the FCC adopt?
• Permanent facility cost recovery mechanisms: How and when should the FCC structure a permanent rate additive or additives to account for correctional facility costs? What are the benefits and burdens of a rate additive for IPCS providers, correctional facilities, and IPCS consumers?
• Continuing bans on site commission payments and ancillary service charges: How can the FCC guard against excessive rates and charges, particularly in light of the requirement to ensure rates and charges for IPCS are just and reasonable? Would eliminating site commission payments permanently better ensure that IPCS rates and charges are just and reasonable and that IPCS providers are fairly compensated?

In the FNPR, the FCC also seeks comments on how to improve data collection to regulate IPCS services more effectively. The FCC seeks additional comments on whether and how it should refine the IPCS data collections going forward, particularly in light of the recognized anomalies with current IPCS data. As part of this, the FCC asks how it can adjust the structure of the data collection process, whether there are other data that are necessary to collect, and if the agency should measure what effects future inflation and productivity increases will have on the average cost-per-minute of audio and video IPCS.

Implementation Timeline and Reactions to the Order

The joint Report and Order and Order on Reconsideration is immediately effective upon publication in the Federal Register, with a 120-day compliance period before enforcement begins. These effective and compliance dates supersede the extended deadline established by the 2025 Waiver Order. Just as a reminder, the rates are interim pending additional data collection and permanent rulemaking.

For the FNPR, interested parties may file comments for 30 days after publication in the Federal Register and reply comments for 60 days after publication.

All three sitting FCC Commissioners released statements following the vote at the Open Meeting. Chairman Carr lauded the decision:

Commissioner Trusty concurred:

Commissioner Gomez thoroughly decried this proceeding during the Open Meeting:

Cheryl A. Leanza, the United Church of Christ Media Justice’s policy advisor and a longtime advocate for the Martha Wright-Reed Act, said,

Quick Bits

• FCC Announces Agenda for November 2025 Open Meeting
• FCC to Advance U.S. Wireless Leadership with Vote on C-Band Proposal
• Chairman Cruz Requests FCC Review of Eligibility Rules for Lifeline Subsidies
• Time is Running Out to Advocate for BEAD Non-Deployment Funding

Weekend Reads

• Remarks of Assistant Secretary Arielle Roth at the Hudson Institute
• Demand for Broadband Workforce Expected to Rise to Meet BEAD Requirements
• Low Earth Orbit Satellites: Policies to Promote Spectrum Sharing, Foster Competition, and Close Digital Divides
• U.S. Broadband Speeds on the Uptick, Digital Divide Narrows

ICYMI from Benton

• A New Chapter in the Consumer Broadband Label Debate
• North Carolina Sets its Digital Skills Standards
• States Keep Working Towards Digital Equity
• What’s New in Broadband Research?

Upcoming Events

Nov 12––The People's Oversight Hearing (Public Knowledge)

Nov 13––The LEO Satellite Policy Symposium (New America, International Center for Law & Economics)

Feb 3-5––Net Inclusion 2026 (National Digital Inclusion Alliance)

The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society is a non-profit organization dedicated to ensuring that all people in the U.S. have access to competitive, High-Performance Broadband regardless of where they live or who they are. We believe communication policy - rooted in the values of access, equity, and diversity - has the power to deliver new opportunities and strengthen communities.

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