FCC Orders Jail Phone Firms to Spill All Data Secrets
Published Date: 10/5/2026
Rule
Summary
The FCC’s Wireline Competition Bureau and Office of Economics and Analytics are rolling out new rules for companies that provide phone and communication services to people in jail. Starting in 2026, these providers must submit detailed data using special forms by December 21, 2026. This helps keep communication fair and transparent, affecting all service providers and potentially impacting costs and service quality.
Analyzed Economic Effects
11 provisions identified: 3 benefits, 7 costs, 1 mixed.
2025 data used to set permanent IPCS rates in 2027
The FCC says the 2025 data collected under this Mandatory Data Collection will be used to support the Commission's ratemaking efforts and to help establish permanent IPCS rate caps in 2027.
Must file 2026 IPCS data by Dec 21
If you provide phone or communications services to people in jail, you must file the 2026 Mandatory Data Collection using the FCC's Word and Excel templates and a certification form. All submissions must be filed by December 21, 2026.
Reporting limited to calendar year 2025
The data collection requires reporting only for the calendar year 2025. The Commission declined requests to require multi-year reporting (e.g., 2023–2025) or to delay the collection.
Must report detailed cost subcategories
You must report detailed cost categories and subcategories (capital assets, capital expenses, and operating expenses) rather than submitting single totals. The Commission rejected collapsing these into single totals.
Report third-party payment-processing fees
Providers must separately report fees they pay to third parties for payment processing services (including fees associated with chargebacks, but excluding the chargeback amounts themselves). Internal payment-processing costs must also be included and allocated.
Report tablet minutes: regulated vs non-regulated
Providers must report minutes of use for tablets and split those minutes between regulated IPCS services and non-regulated uses so the Commission can analyze cost allocations.
Report payments to correctional facilities
You must report total monetary and total in-kind payments made to correctional facilities that are treated as used-and-useful IPCS costs during the 2025 reporting period. The FCC rejected expanding these data to more detailed facility-level reporting.
Measure-based safety and security reporting required
Providers must report discrete safety and security measures they provided in 2025, estimate the percentage of total safety and security expenses for each measure, associate each measure with one or more of seven broader categories, and allocate costs among IPCS and other services. Reporting is company-wide, not facility-level.
Ancillary-service costs folded into company totals
The FCC eliminated separate reporting for formerly allowed ancillary service charge categories; those costs may be included in general, company-wide cost reporting instead of as separate line items.
Site commission reporting greatly reduced
The FCC significantly reduced site commission reporting: providers only need to report company-wide summary totals for IPCS-related monetary and in-kind site commission payments, and no longer must distinguish fixed vs. variable commissions or report facility-level detail. The Commission noted its site commission prohibition became effective April 6, 2026.
No optional company-specific WACC reporting
The FCC declined to allow providers to optionally submit an alternative company-specific weighted average cost of capital (WACC). The Commission will rely on its default WACC (previously cited as 9.75%) rather than accepting alternative WACC submissions.
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Key Dates
Department and Agencies
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