SECURUS TECHNOLOGIES SUPPORTS INTERIM RATE CAPS ON INMATE CALLING SERVICES AND PROPOSES SWEEPING COLLABORATIVE EFFORT TO MODERNIZE CORRECTIONAL COMMUNICATIONS

Company Outlines Vision for Providing Smart Devices to Every Incarcerated Individual, Lowering Costs Through Subscription Calling Plans, and Eliminating Site Commissions

Will Work with Regulators and Legislators to Ensure Correctional Agencies Have Funding to Protect Essential Programming

Securus Technologies announced today that it would support the Federal Communications Commission’s new order imposing interim rate caps and other requirements on telephone service for incarcerated individuals, foregoing appeal or opposition in favor of an unprecedented collaborative approach to regulation.

“We believe it is long overdue for our industry to stop fighting with reform-minded regulators and legislators,” said Securus CEO Dave Abel. “Instead, we need to adopt a more collaborative approach that balances the needs of the incarcerated individuals and their families who use and pay for our services and the corrections agencies that contract for them.”

Mr. Abel said that while the FCC’s order is not perfect, it presents an unprecedented opportunity to ensure consistency, simplicity, and transparency in pricing with flexibility to meet the needs of local communities. Moreover, it provides a bridge for the industry to move beyond pure telephone service to a much-needed, smart-tablet platform.

In that context, Securus has called upon regulators, legislators, correctional agencies, justice-involved families, and technology providers to engage in a collaborative effort to make technology more accessible and affordable. The company today announced a series of investments and commitments to support this effort:

Dave Abel, CEO of Securus, said: “We believe that the rulemaking process currently being undertaken by the FCC has the potential to bring much needed transformation to correctional communications and the deployment of advanced technology to incarceration facilities. We commend FCC Acting Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel for her leadership and being a driving force to making communications more affordable.  Our organization wholeheartedly supports the effort to regulate and are committed to being active participants in this process as well as the final rulemaking. While we have concerns about some elements of the interim order, we believe the best path forward is to work with the FCC to further refine and modernize the regulations. We all share the goal of a correctional communications system that is affordable and contributes to a nation that is safer and more just – and we look forward to working together to move ever closer to that vision.”

In January 2020, Securus announced a multi-year corporate transformation, which has so far reduced the average cost of our calls to less than 15 cents per minute, integrated commission-free and agency-paid options for telephone calls, and renegotiated contracts with over 100 correctional agencies to drastically adjust call rates that previously exceeded national averages.

For more detail, see an open letter from Securus to the FCC at https://bit.ly/3C1y8TB