Community hub
Recent from talks
Contribute something to knowledge base
Content stats: 0 posts, 0 articles, 0 media, 0 notes
Members stats: 0 subscribers, 0 contributors, 0 moderators, 0 supporters
Subscribers
Supporters
Contributors
Moderators
Hub AI
Inmate telephone system AI simulator
(@Inmate telephone system_simulator)
Hub AI
Inmate telephone system AI simulator
(@Inmate telephone system_simulator)
Inmate telephone system
An inmate telephone system, also known as an Inmate Calling Service (ICS) or Inmate telephone service, is a telephone service intended for use by inmates in correctional facilities in the United States. The service is intended to support inmate rehabilitation by allowing consistent communication with their family and legal counsel while incarcerated.
In the United States, prison telecom is a $1.2 billion industry, mostly controlled by two private equity-backed companies: Global Tel Link (GTL) and Securus Technologies. While there have been attempts by the United States' telecom regulator, the FCC, to regulate the costs of inmate telephone services, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that its policy violated the Telecommunications Act, which forbids the FCC from regulating intrastate communications.[citation needed]
In order to use an inmate telephone service, inmates must register an account and provide a list of names and numbers for the people they intend to communicate with. Call limitations vary depending on the prison's rules, but calls are typically limited to 15 minutes each, and inmates must wait 30 minutes before being allowed to make another call. Calls are generally recorded and monitored by the prison’s staff for security and oversight purposes. Phone credits are typically accessed via an inmate account card.
Since 2001, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has limited calls to 300 minutes per month. As of 2025, the system gives 300 free minutes to any adult inmate who participates in a First Step Act (FSA) Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction (EBRR) program, but they must pay for their phone minutes if they are not in a program.
In the United States, the inmate telephone market is dominated by two providers, Global Tel Link (GTL) and Securus Technologies, with Global Tel-Link controlling approximately 50% of the market and Securus with 20%. The New York-based private equity firm Veritas Capital, with assets of over $5 billion, acquired GTL during the tenure of Veritas' founder and CEO Robert B. McKeon. Mobile, Alabama-based GTL was a subsidiary of GTEL Holdings in 2009 and offered "inmate communications, investigative, facility management, visitation, payment and deposit, and content solutions."[citation needed]
The global private-equity company Castle Harlan purchased Securus Technologies from Miami-based private equity company, H.I.G. Capital in 2011. New York-based American Securities purchased GTL for $1 billion in 2011, and then Boston-based ABRY Partners purchased Securus in 2013 for $640 million.
Rates for the telephone calls from prisons and jails can be exorbitantly high,[clarification needed] especially for low income families who are trying to keep in touch with their loved ones. Data has shown over the course of 10 years leading up to 2021, phone call per-minute rates have steadily declined; however, the rates are still generally too high for many people to stay in contact. Contributing to the high cost is the fact that providers charge two separate rates depending on whether the callers are from the same state or different states.[better source needed]
On August 9, 2013, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a report on the high cost of inmate calling services and proposed reforms. A 2013 FCC analysis described how, in some cases, long-distance calls are charged six times the rate for the equivalent call on the outside, or in other instances, a 15-minute call could cost upwards of $15. Acting Chairwoman Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai dissented and issued statements about their dissent. It also reported that phone rates had "caused inmates and their friends and families to subsidize everything from inmate welfare to salaries and benefits, states' general revenue funds and personnel training." At that time the FCC proposed capping the charge for interstate inmate phone calls at $3.75 for 15 minutes. The proposal was approved in 2014; a cap was also implemented to reduce the high long-distance charges that inmates incurred to eleven cents per minute, so that a 15-minute call should not cost more than $4. According to the FCC, Global Tel-Link had been charging as much as $17.30 for such calls under contracts with facilities in Arkansas, Georgia and Minnesota, which resulted in "unreasonably high" phone bills for inmates' families. In retaliation for the change, service providers raised the rates on local calls.
Inmate telephone system
An inmate telephone system, also known as an Inmate Calling Service (ICS) or Inmate telephone service, is a telephone service intended for use by inmates in correctional facilities in the United States. The service is intended to support inmate rehabilitation by allowing consistent communication with their family and legal counsel while incarcerated.
In the United States, prison telecom is a $1.2 billion industry, mostly controlled by two private equity-backed companies: Global Tel Link (GTL) and Securus Technologies. While there have been attempts by the United States' telecom regulator, the FCC, to regulate the costs of inmate telephone services, the Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit ruled that its policy violated the Telecommunications Act, which forbids the FCC from regulating intrastate communications.[citation needed]
In order to use an inmate telephone service, inmates must register an account and provide a list of names and numbers for the people they intend to communicate with. Call limitations vary depending on the prison's rules, but calls are typically limited to 15 minutes each, and inmates must wait 30 minutes before being allowed to make another call. Calls are generally recorded and monitored by the prison’s staff for security and oversight purposes. Phone credits are typically accessed via an inmate account card.
Since 2001, the Federal Bureau of Prisons has limited calls to 300 minutes per month. As of 2025, the system gives 300 free minutes to any adult inmate who participates in a First Step Act (FSA) Evidence-Based Recidivism Reduction (EBRR) program, but they must pay for their phone minutes if they are not in a program.
In the United States, the inmate telephone market is dominated by two providers, Global Tel Link (GTL) and Securus Technologies, with Global Tel-Link controlling approximately 50% of the market and Securus with 20%. The New York-based private equity firm Veritas Capital, with assets of over $5 billion, acquired GTL during the tenure of Veritas' founder and CEO Robert B. McKeon. Mobile, Alabama-based GTL was a subsidiary of GTEL Holdings in 2009 and offered "inmate communications, investigative, facility management, visitation, payment and deposit, and content solutions."[citation needed]
The global private-equity company Castle Harlan purchased Securus Technologies from Miami-based private equity company, H.I.G. Capital in 2011. New York-based American Securities purchased GTL for $1 billion in 2011, and then Boston-based ABRY Partners purchased Securus in 2013 for $640 million.
Rates for the telephone calls from prisons and jails can be exorbitantly high,[clarification needed] especially for low income families who are trying to keep in touch with their loved ones. Data has shown over the course of 10 years leading up to 2021, phone call per-minute rates have steadily declined; however, the rates are still generally too high for many people to stay in contact. Contributing to the high cost is the fact that providers charge two separate rates depending on whether the callers are from the same state or different states.[better source needed]
On August 9, 2013, the Federal Communications Commission adopted a report on the high cost of inmate calling services and proposed reforms. A 2013 FCC analysis described how, in some cases, long-distance calls are charged six times the rate for the equivalent call on the outside, or in other instances, a 15-minute call could cost upwards of $15. Acting Chairwoman Clyburn, Jessica Rosenworcel and Ajit Pai dissented and issued statements about their dissent. It also reported that phone rates had "caused inmates and their friends and families to subsidize everything from inmate welfare to salaries and benefits, states' general revenue funds and personnel training." At that time the FCC proposed capping the charge for interstate inmate phone calls at $3.75 for 15 minutes. The proposal was approved in 2014; a cap was also implemented to reduce the high long-distance charges that inmates incurred to eleven cents per minute, so that a 15-minute call should not cost more than $4. According to the FCC, Global Tel-Link had been charging as much as $17.30 for such calls under contracts with facilities in Arkansas, Georgia and Minnesota, which resulted in "unreasonably high" phone bills for inmates' families. In retaliation for the change, service providers raised the rates on local calls.