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Public commenters press commission to protect access to video relay; vendors explain FCC caps and transition plans
Summary
Public commenters urged the Louisiana Public Service Commission to keep video relay access free for deaf incarcerated people and urged deeper action to make phone calls free; vendors including Securus and Viapath described how FCC's Martha Wright reforms set phone caps and interim video caps and said some video services will be provided free during platform transitions.
Public comment at the Louisiana Public Service Commission centered on access and cost for communication services used by incarcerated people, and on whether the commission should go beyond new federal caps.
Walker S. Estes, a volunteer chaplain at Angola, told commissioners that point-to-point video relay services (VRS) are crucial for deaf inmates and urged the commission not to add charges that would make VRS less accessible. "It was nice for us to communicate ... there was no charge," Estes said of the current VRS access at Angola.
Following public comment, representatives of Securus Technologies described how the federal Martha Wright Act and recent FCC orders change rate caps for correctional communications. Securus lawyers and product staff said the FCC set new permanent caps for telephone service and interim caps for video; depending on facility size, Securus said video per-minute charges can range roughly from 11 cents to 25 cents per minute and that the FCC's phone caps could restrict phone charges to as low as 6 cents per minute for some facilities. Securus told the commission that video calls which use federally funded video relay service for deaf users are not charged to the end user and that, during conversion of Securus' billing platform, the company would provide video calls for free until its systems are adjusted.
Advocacy groups and family members urged the commission to support the FCC and to consider going further; speakers described the financial strain on families paying for calls and cited research linking affordable communications to reduced violence and lower recidivism. "Ensuring that incarcerated people have access to communication with their support system is about more than strengthening families," a speaker for a nonprofit said.
Vendors including Viapath and NCIC told the commission they were preparing to implement FCC changes and would supply data as needed; some providers said they had filed motions or comments at the FCC or planned to work with agencies to implement the new rules.
Why it matters: The commission heard competing policy and operational considerations: advocates framing communication as a public-safety and equity concern, and vendors explaining contractual costs and technical differences between telephone and video services. Commissioners asked staff whether state authority remains to go below federal caps; staff said states can set rates lower than FCC ceilings but cannot exceed them.
The record included technical explanations of video visitation (remote and on-site), identification and monitoring procedures, attorney-visit protections, and vendor plans for credits or free calls during a platform change.
