OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) — The Federal Communications Commission has adopted new nationwide rules that mean the cost of phone calls to inmates in Oklahoma prisons and jails will drop significantly.
The FCC says the current average cost of a 15-minute telephone call between a family member and a person in an Oklahoma prison is $3.00. That's for an in-state, long-distance, prepaid phone call. The new rate cap approved Thursday cuts that cost to $1.65, a 45 percent drop.
The FCC also set nationwide limits on fees and other costs associated with the calls.
FCC commissioner Mignon Clyburn said before the vote that the cost of the calls have placed "incredible burdens" on the families of the more than 2 million people incarcerated in the United States.