Access and Affordability

OBJECTIVE: 

• We will work with existing customers and include in new proposals at least one communication per week for every incarcerated account holder in need at no cost to the consumer. We believe that communications with friends and family are an essential element of life, and that no one should be completely restricted from communicating based on financial means.
• We will continue to deliver on our three-year commitment to a 15% reduction in the average price of a telephone call, which began in 2020 at $0.15 per minute. As we enter year two of a three-year commitment, we will continue to find efficiencies and share savings with consumers to progress against this important goal.
• We will introduce monthly pricing models alongside traditional pay per minute models where allowed and work with policymakers to modernize regulations to permit it more broadly. Justice-involved families have clearly articulated that budget certainty is vital to being able to cover communication expenses for incarcerated loved ones. In a recent pilot, using this method increased communication time by 25% and decreased costs to consumers by more than 50%.
• We will not use Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology to bypass regulations, and in states where our telecommunications are not subject to state regulatory caps by use of VoIP. we will work with agencies to honor the state regulatory price caps. Communications technology is an evolving field and today many calls are delivered via Voice over Internet Protocol instead of traditional analog systems. While we are working to develop cutting edge technologies and services, we will not use those developments to bypass regulations on traditional calling. Instead, we will work with our institutional partners to rework our pricing if needed to align with traditional telecom caps, and will continue to honor requirements for federal and state assistance programs.