Incarcerated Individuals

In a letter to Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr, a group of Democratic U.S. Senators urged the Commission not to "gut" the FCC's 2024 final rule implementing the bipartisan Martha Wright-Reed Just and Reasonable Communications Act of 2022. "As a Commissioner, you voted for the FCC’s 2024 final rule that was adopted on a bipartisan basis, 5-0," says the letter. "Consistent with Congressional intent, the 2024 final rule cut prison phone rates bymore than half and banned junk fees charged by providers.

The Federal Communications Commission took action to revisit the framework established by the FCC’s 2024 Incarcerated People’s Communications Services (IPCS) Report and Order. The FCC's action will supersede the Commission’s previous rate cap calculations by using only billed minutes to determine the Commission’s rate caps, incorporating all safety and security measure expenses that IPCS providers reported incurring, and creating an additional rate cap tier for extremely small jails.

In 2023, Virginian John Boyd’s combine caught fire while harvesting grain, and he was in a dead zone. He had to walk a mile and a half just to find cellular service. By then, the fire had destroyed his combine. “A complete loss, and insurance wouldn’t pay,” Boyd said. Internet access is more than a convenience for farmers and ranchers. It’s become critical infrastructure, and not only for emergency situations.

I recently attended a wonderful event sponsored by the Blue Ridge Broadband Alliance. The BRBA is headquartered in Asheville and is focused on improving broadband in the many rural counties in Western North Carolina. The Alliance is being led by Sara Nichols with help from two great sponsors—The Benton Institute for Broadband & Society and the Dogwood Health Trust’s Digital Opportunities Initiative.

Most state and territorial broadband offices have completed subgrantee selections for Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) Program last-mile connectivity projects and submitted their final proposals to the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).

The work of digital navigators across the country was to be propped up by a $2.75 billion federal program that was abruptly canceled this spring.

“We all benefit when we are all connected—when workers connect with employers, patients connect with doctors, students connect with teachers, and small businesses connect with customers. That’s what Congress designed the Digital Equity Competitive Grant Program to deliver—connectivity and opportunity for all," said Executive Director Dr. Revati Prasad. “NDIA’s action today is an unfortunately necessary step to restoring Congress’s intention.

The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA), represented by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the Trump Administration’s repeal of the Digital Equity Act Competitive Grant Program.

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Brendan Carr circulated an item that would revisit the framework established by the FCC’s 2024 Incarcerated People’s Communications Services (IPCS) Report and Order. Specifically, the item would set, on an interim basis, rate caps for IPCS that allow for the full inclusion of safety and security costs to correctional facilities and IPCS providers, consistent with the statute.

The Federal Communications Commission proposed new rules to empower local and state correctional authorities to jam signals from illegal contraband cellphones. Thousands of contraband cellphones have poured into prisons across the country, and inmates have been using them to coordinate violent gang activity, call in hits, and aid criminal enterprises. Jamming devices are not currently allowed in non-federal prisons.