Federal Communications Commission FCC 16-102
STATEMENT OF
CHAIRMAN TOM WHEELER
Re: Rates for Interstate Inmate Calling Services, WC Docket No. 12-375.
Almost a year has passed since the Commission adopted comprehensive Inmate Calling Services 
(ICS) reform in the 2015 ICS Order, which sought to provide material relief to nearly 2 million families 
with loved ones behind bars.  While the 2015 ICS Order went a long way towards enacting meaningful 
and lasting changes in this industry, we recognize that there is still more work to be done.  This Order on 
Reconsideration continues the Commission’s important work ensuring that inmates and their families 
have access to robust telephone service at rates that are fair, just, and reasonable, while also allowing ICS 
providers and correctional facilities to recover their ICS-related costs. 
Today’s Order addresses several issues raised in a Petition for Reconsideration filed by Michael 
S. Hamden.  Most significantly, it amends our rate caps to better allow providers to recover their costs 
while also compensating facilities for reasonable costs they incur as a direct result of ICS.  The revised 
rate caps derive from proposals submitted by a broad, cross-section of parties, including an outside 
economist, a state regulator, and the facilities themselves.
After careful review of the record developed after the adoption of the 2015 ICS Order, we find it 
likely that at least some facilities incur costs that should be recovered through our ICS rates.  The 2015 
rate caps did not separately account for these costs, and some parties have asserted that this decision could 
pose a risk to the continued deployment and development of ICS. 
The rules adopted today address those concerns, and help promote access to ICS, by ensuring that 
providers receive fair compensation for their services and are able to compensate facilities for ICS-related 
costs. 
Although the rate caps we adopt today are higher than those adopted in the 2015 ICS Order, they 
still represent a significant constraint on ICS rates and will result in rates that are, on average, below the 
interim rate caps that are currently in effect for interstate ICS calls. 
We also note that these revised rate caps serve as an upper limit on ICS charges, and we expect 
that, in many instances, providers and facilities will agree on rates that fall below the permitted 
maximums.
We continue to believe that these revised rate caps, coupled with the other reforms adopted in the 
2015 ICS Order, will provide much-needed relief to the children and families who need ICS to remain 
connected to loved ones. 
Once again, special thanks are due to Commissioner Clyburn for her tireless work on this issue.
The Commission’s ICS reforms are having a direct and meaningful impact on the lives of millions of 
Americans, and they would not have been possible without Commissioner Clyburn’s leadership.