Michael S. Hamden - Attorney, Counselor at Law & Corrections Consultant

What Are you Paying...

...when you receive a collect call from a loved one who is incarcerated in-state, but outside your local calling area?  What if your loved one calls collect from out-of-state?  Local telephone company and AT&T tariffed rates for all 50 states are accessible through the links below.

 

 

How does your current rate compare to:

  1. The “benchmark rates” proposed by the Wright Alternative Petition (20¢/minute for debit-card calls and 25¢/minute for collect calls, with no per call/fixed cost charge)?

  2. The Wood Report, “Cost Study Rates” filed on behalf of certain members of the prisoner phone service industry on 15 August 2008 at the FCC in the Wright Alternative Proceeding? 

COMPARISON
WRIGHT ALTERNATIVE PETITION PROPOSED RATES
AND Prisoner PHONE SERVICE INDUSTRY COST STUDY RATES

Type of Call

Fixed
Cost

Per
Minute

 

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

20 Minutes

Wright Collect Rate

 

$.25    

$2.50

$3.75

$5.00*

IPS Collect Call*

$2.49 +

$.07  =

$3.19

$3.54

$3.89**

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wright Debit Rate

 

$.20    

$2.00

$3.00

$4.00*

IPS Debit Call*

$1.56 +

$.06  =

$2.16

$2.46

$2.76**

 

 

Current Prisoner Phone Service Rates

Inter-State Collect Call Rates

Inter-State Call

Surcharge

Per
Minute

 

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

20 Minutes

Evercom Systems Inc. 4/1/08 Tariff *

 

$3.95

 

$.89

 

$12.85

 

$17.30

 

$21.75

 

*The inter-state rates charged by Evercom Systems, Inc., are believed to be representative of the rates charged by the Prison Telephone Service Industry.

 

 

Current Prisoner Phone Service Tariffed Rates

50 State Average Intra-lata Collect Call Rates

 

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

20 Minutes

Intra-lata call:  Long distance calls inside your state, near your local calling area


$5.42

 

$6.71

 

$8.00

 

 

Current Prisoner Phone Service Tariffed Rates

50 State Average Inter-lata Collect Call Rates

 

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

20 Minutes

Inter-lata call:  Long distance calls inside your state, further from your local calling area

 

$8.64

 

$11.14

 

$13.68

 

 

Current Prisoner Phone Service Tariffed Rates

50 State Average Local Collect Call Rates Intra-State

 

10 Minutes

15 Minutes

20 Minutes

Local call

$2.92

$3.01

$3.10

 

 

Notes Regarding Chart 1

*The Wright Petitioners’ proposed rates of $.20/minute and $.25/minute based on the comparative costs of 20 minute calls in particular prisons and prison systems.  Wright Alternative Rulemaking Proposal, pp. 20 – 22.  None the less, costs for 10, 15 and 20 minute calls have been calculated using the Wright Petitioners’ proposed rates.  Beginning with calls of about 14 minutes, the Wright Petitioners’ proposed rates begin to exceed those proposed in the Wood Study.

 

**It should be noted that the figures that appear in the IPS rates represent the lower of two cost calculations made by Mr. Don Wood, an industry expert retained by six of the eight payphone providers involved in the Wright Proceeding.

 

General Information

The rates shown above are well below the current long distance rates that are being charged for prisoner phone calls in every state in the nation.  In other words, six prisoner telephone service providers have submitted documentation to the FCC that they can provide services at lower costs than they are charging at present, and for calls of about 14 minutes or more in duration, at lower rates than the Wright Petitioners have demanded.