Digital Inclusion

FCC to Nearly Double Call Rates for Prison and Jail Inmates

Vote expected Tuesday could raise rates by 83 percent, advocates say.

Jericho Casper

Oct 27, 2025 — 6 min read

Photo of representatives of the United Church of Christ’s Media Justice Ministry who met with FCC staff to urge fair and just rates for telephone and internet services for incarcerated people. From left to right: Rev. Jennifer Hawks, Maura Moser, Cheryl Leanza, Galen Baughman, and Rev. Kathy Dwyer.

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2025 – The rates incarcerated individuals pay to call home could rise by as much as 83 percent under new rules the Federal Communications Commission expects to approve Tuesday, according to an analysis.

The analysis by Worth Rises, which found that the FCC’s proposal would cut expected family savings nearly in half and reduce call volume by 66 percent, fueled advocacy efforts of the United Church of Christ’s Media Justice Ministry and other public interest groups at the FCC last week.

The coalition met with FCC commissioners ahead of the agency’s Oct. 28 vote to warn the proposal would force families of the incarcerated to pay hundreds of millions more each year to maintain contact with loved ones, undoing hard-won progress Congress mandated through the Martha Wright-Reed Act.

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Digital Inclusion FCC United Church of Christ Media Justice Ministry Public Knowledge Benton Institute for Broadband & Society Martha Wright-Reed Act Wireline Competition Bureau American Jail Association Securus NCIC First Circuit Jessica Rosenworcel Brendan Carr Cheryl Leanza Nanette Barragán Bianca Tylek