Wireline Competition Bureau Seeks Comment on Revisions to Annual Reporting and Certification Requirements for Inmate Calling Services (ICS) Providers, 212-214 [2021-28494]

Agencies

• FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

[Federal Register Volume 87, Number 2 (Tuesday, January 4, 2022)]
[Proposed Rules]
[Pages 212-214]
From the Federal Register Online via the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
[FR Doc No: 2021-28494]


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FEDERAL COMMUNICATIONS COMMISSION

47 CFR Part 64

[WC Docket No. 12-375, DA 21-1583; FR ID 64286]


Wireline Competition Bureau Seeks Comment on Revisions to Annual 
Reporting and Certification Requirements for Inmate Calling Services 
(ICS) Providers

AGENCY: Federal Communications Commission.

ACTION: Solicitation of comments.

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SUMMARY: In this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB or the 
Bureau) of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC or the 
Commission) seeks comment on proposed revisions to the instructions and 
templates for the Annual Reports and Annual Certifications submitted by 
providers of inmate calling services.

DATES: Comments are due on or before January 12, 2022; and reply 
comments are due on or before January 27. 2022.

ADDRESSES: You may submit comments, identified by WC Docket No. 12-375, 
by any of the following methods:
     Electronic Filers: Comments may be filed electronically 
using the internet by accessing the ECFS: https://apps.fcc.gov/ecfs/.
     Paper Filers: Parties who choose to file by paper must 
file an original and one copy of each filing.
     Filings can be sent by commercial overnight courier, or by 
first-class or overnight U.S. Postal Service mail. All filings must be 
addressed to the Commission's Secretary, Office of the Secretary, 
Federal Communications Commission.
     Commercial overnight mail (other than U.S. Postal Service 
Express Mail and Priority Mail) must be sent to 9050 Junction Drive, 
Annapolis Junction, MD 20701.
     U.S. Postal Service first-class, Express, and Priority 
mail must be addressed to 45 L Street NE, Washington, DC 20554.
     Effective March 19, 2020, and until further notice, the 
Commission no longer accepts any hand or messenger delivered filings. 
This is a temporary measure taken to help protect the health and safety 
of individuals, and to mitigate the transmission of COVID-19. See FCC 
Announces Closure of FCC Headquarters Open Window and Change in Hand-
Delivery Policy, Public Notice, DA 20-304 (March 19, 2020). https://www.fcc.gov/document/fcc-closes-headquarters-open-window-and-changes-hand-delivery-policy.
    People with Disabilities: To request materials in accessible 
formats for people with disabilities (braille, large print, electronic 
files, audio format), send an email to [email protected] or call the 
Consumer & Governmental Affairs Bureau at 202-418-0530 (voice), 202-
418-0432 (TTY).

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT: Minsoo Kim, Pricing Policy Division, 
Wireline Competition Bureau, at (202) 418-1739 or via email at 
[email protected].

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: This is a summary of the Commission's 
document, Public Notice, DA 21-1583, released December 15, 2022. The 
full text of this document is available at https://www.fcc.gov/document/wcb-seeks-comment-ics-annual-reporting-and-certification-revisions.

Synopsis

    By this document, the Wireline Competition Bureau (WCB or the 
Bureau) seeks comment on proposed revisions to the instructions and 
templates for the Annual Reports and Annual Certifications submitted by 
providers of inmate calling services (ICS). The Commission requires ICS 
providers to make these filings to enable the Commission to monitor and 
track trends in the ICS marketplace, increase provider transparency, 
and ensure compliance with the Commission's ICS rules.
    Pursuant to delegated authority, the Bureau created standardized 
reporting templates (FCC Form 2301(a)) for the Annual Report and a 
related certification of accuracy (FCC Form 2301(b)), as well as 
instructions to guide providers through the reporting process. The 
Bureau amended the instructions and template for the Annual Report in 
2020 in order to improve the type and quality of the information 
collected.
    In the 2021 ICS Order, the Commission revised its ICS rules by 
adopting, inter alia, lower interim rate caps for interstate ICS calls, 
new interim rate caps for international ICS calls, and a rate cap 
structure that requires ICS providers to differentiate between legally 
mandated and contractually required site commissions. The new 2021 
rules necessitate further changes to the annual reporting and 
certification templates for which WCB seeks comment herein. Pursuant to 
the Paperwork Reduction Act of 1995 (PRA), WCB will publish a notice in 
the Federal Register seeking comment on the information collection 
requirements for the annual reporting and certification requirements in 
the Public Notice.

I. Overall Structure of the Annual Reporting and Certification 
Requirements

    Pursuant to delegated authority, WCB proposes to revise the 
instructions and templates for the Annual Reports and Certifications to 
be consistent with the Commission's rules. These revised instructions 
and the associated templates, if adopted, will consolidate and supplant 
the instructions and templates for earlier iterations of the ICS annual 
reporting and certification requirements. WCB also proposes 
improvements based on experience reviewing prior Annual Reports, which 
has persuaded us that revised instructions would help providers better 
understand the requirements, making the submitted reports more useful 
to the Commission and consumers. To that end, WCB proposes to adopt 
both an Excel-format template and a Word-format template for the Annual 
Reports to better separate individual data items from narrative 
responses. For simplicity, WCB refers to these respective portions of 
the template as the Word template and the Excel template. WCB seeks 
comment on these proposed revisions, generally, and on the specific 
structure, content, and format of the proposed templates and 
instructions attached hereto. WCB likewise proposes minor revisions to 
the certification form. Are

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there other changes or additions WCB should make to gather better or 
more accurate data or to make the instructions more clear? Is there 
additional information or data that WCB should require providers to 
submit to enable the Commission to better monitor compliance and 
industry trends, or increase transparency to the public? Conversely, 
are there any proposed instructions, inquiries, or data fields that 
should be removed because they are unnecessary to ensure that providers 
report uniform and accurate data and other information or they would 
reduce the burdens on providers in submitting this data?

A. Proposed Instructions for Annual Reports

    WCB seeks comment on whether the proposed instructions provide 
sufficient guidance to ensure that providers use uniform methodologies 
and report the required information in a consistent manner. Are there 
any additional changes that would clarify the instructions, including 
the definitions, to help increase uniformity across providers' 
responses? WCB seeks comment on all aspects of the proposed 
instructions, including any proposed revisions not explicitly addressed 
in the Public Notice.
    Reporting Period. As has been the case with prior annual reports, 
the reporting period is the year immediately preceding the year during 
which the annual report is due. Thus, the reporting period for the next 
annual reports due April 1, 2022 will be January 1, 2021 through 
December 31, 2021. The Commission's new interim interstate and 
international ICS rate caps adopted in the 2021 ICS Order became 
effective on October 26, 2021. In various places, the proposed 
instructions explain how providers may report less detailed information 
for the period between January 1, 2021 and October 25, 2021 than for 
the period between October 26, 2021 and December 31, 2021 and going 
forward.
    General Categories of Information Requested. The proposed 
instructions, like for prior reports, require providers to submit 
certain types of information related to their operations, ICS rates, 
ancillary service charges, site commissions, and disability access. Do 
the proposed instructions describe these categories of data in 
sufficient detail? Is there additional information or data that WCB 
should require providers to submit in any of these categories to enable 
the Commission to better monitor compliance and industry trends, or 
increase transparency to the public? Are there any changes WCB should 
make to the proposed instructions and templates to make them easier for 
providers to understand?

B. Specific Data and Information Inquiries

    Inmate Calling Service Rates. The proposed instructions require 
providers to submit intrastate, interstate, and international ICS rates 
across three general categories: (i) Highest rates charged, (ii) 
average rates charged, and (iii) year-end rates charged at a particular 
facility. Specifically, WCB proposes to require the reporting of the 
highest 15-minute rate, highest year-end 15-minute rate, and average 
per-minute rate. WCB's current instructions require providers to report 
every single rate charged over the reporting period. WCB believes the 
proposed categories will significantly reduce the burdens on providers, 
particularly those that frequently change their rates. Further, because 
certain providers may charge one rate for the initial minute of a call 
and another for each successive minute, obtaining information for 15-
minute calls (a duration that the Commission has previously treated as 
the length of a typical call) will help the Commission compare rates 
among providers without imposing unwarranted burdens on them. With 
regard to the highest 15-minute rate, WCB proposes to require providers 
to break down those rates into the first-minute rate and the rate for 
additional minutes, and to further report the site commission amounts 
included in those rates. For interstate and international rates, WCB 
adds a fourth category, that would require providers to identify all 
rates charged in excess of the applicable rate caps. For international 
rates, WCB further proposes to require providers to report terminating 
charges they paid to their underlying international service provider to 
each destination. Are the proposed instructions for reporting average 
international termination charges clear? WCB also proposes to seek 
certain narrative information about the reported rates, including 
explanations for rates that exceed the Commission's rate caps.
    WCB seeks comment on this rate reporting approach. Will seeking 
rate information in these categories provide the Commission adequate 
rate information to ensure compliance with the Commission's rules? Are 
there other changes WCB can make to the proposed rate reporting 
structure to make it easier for providers to respond, without 
sacrificing any necessary information or transparency? That structure 
is a departure from the previous requirement that a provider must 
submit every rate charged over the reporting period, a step that should 
significantly reduce burdens on providers that frequently adjust their 
rates. WCB believes that requiring providers to identify and submit 
information on all interstate and international rates that exceed the 
applicable caps will not impose an unwarranted burden, as WCB expects 
such violations to be infrequent. WCB believes the proposed rate 
reporting structure properly balances the need for accurate information 
on ICS rates with the need to avoid imposing unwarranted burdens on 
providers. WCB invites comment on this assessment.
    Ancillary Service Charges. The proposed instructions continue to 
require providers to report a variety of information about any 
ancillary services charges they have assessed. WCB proposes to require 
a narrative explanation concerning any allocation methodology among 
facilities in a single contract, where applicable. Is there any 
additional information WCB should seek that would improve the quantity 
or quality of ancillary charge information providers are required to 
submit?
    Site Commissions. The proposed instructions seek information 
concerning site commissions on a more disaggregated basis than WCB has 
previously required. WCB proposes to require providers to report their 
average total monthly site commission payments on a facility-by-
facility basis and to separate those payments between legally mandated 
and contractually prescribed site commission payments, consistent with 
the Commission's rules. WCB also proposes to require providers to 
subdivide both types of payments between monetary and in-kind payments 
and, within those subdivisions, to report the portions of the payments 
that were either fixed or variable. How should providers report the 
value of in-kind site commission payments? Should WCB, for example, 
require providers to identify the type and quantity of in-kind payment 
(such as free or reduced-price equipment) and then assign a dollar 
value to that payment? Should WCB instruct providers on how to 
determine the dollar value of an in-kind payment and, if so, what 
instructions should WCB adopt?
    Disability Access and Related Considerations. The proposed 
instructions continue to require providers to report a variety of 
information about the provision of ICS to incarcerated people with 
hearing and speech disabilities, including any Ancillary Service 
Charges that providers have assessed for or in connection with

[[Page 214]]

TTY-based calls. WCB proposes to also require a narrative explanation 
concerning any allocation methodology used in connection with this 
information, where applicable, and WCB seeks comment on this approach.
    Miscellaneous. The proposed instructions contain a variety of 
questions seeking basic provider information, as well as questions 
seeking narrative information about provider operations and facilities. 
Is there additional information the Commission should seek that would 
help increase transparency and compliance without imposing unwarranted 
burdens on providers?

II. Procedural Matters

    Filing of Comments and Replies. Pursuant to Sec. Sec.  1.415 and 
1.419 of the Commission's rules, 47 CFR 1.415, 1.419, interested 
parties may file comments and reply comments on or before the dates 
indicated on the first page of this document. Comments may be filed 
using the Commission's Electronic Comment Filing System. See FCC, 
Electronic Filing of Documents in Rulemaking Proceedings, 63 FR 24121 
(May 1, 1998).
    Comments and reply comments must include a short and concise 
summary of the substantive arguments raised in the pleading. Comments 
and reply comments must also comply with section 1.49 and all other 
applicable sections of the Commission's rules. WCB directs all 
interested parties to include the name of the filing party and the date 
of the filing on each page of their comments and reply comments. All 
parties are encouraged to use a table of contents, regardless of the 
length of their submission. WCB also strongly encourages parties to 
track the organization set forth in the Public Notice and the 
instructions in order to facilitate the internal review process.
    Ex Parte Presentations. This proceeding shall be treated as a 
``permit-but-disclose'' proceeding in accordance with the Commission's 
ex parte rules. Persons making ex parte presentations must file a copy 
of any written presentation or a memorandum summarizing any oral 
presentation within two business days after the presentation (unless a 
different deadline applicable to the Sunshine period applies). Persons 
making oral ex parte presentations are reminded that memoranda 
summarizing the presentation must (1) list all persons attending or 
otherwise participating in the meeting at which the ex parte 
presentation was made, and (2) summarize all data presented and 
arguments made during the presentation. If the presentation consisted 
in whole or in part of the presentation of data or arguments already 
reflected in the presenter's written comments, memoranda, or other 
filings in the proceeding, the presenter may provide citations to such 
data or arguments in the prior comments, memoranda, or other filings 
(specifying the relevant page and/or paragraph numbers where such data 
or arguments can be found) in lieu of summarizing them in the 
memorandum. Documents shown or given to Commission staff during ex 
parte meetings are deemed to be written ex parte presentations and must 
be filed consistent with Sec.  1.1206(b) of the Commission's rules. 
Participants in this proceeding should familiarize themselves with the 
Commission's ex parte rules.

Federal Communications Commission.
Pamela Arluk,
Chief, Competition Policy Division, Wireline Competition Bureau.
[FR Doc. 2021-28494 Filed 1-3-22; 8:45 am]
BILLING CODE 6712-01-P