DALLAS, June 5, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Platinum Equity
Chairman and CEO Tom Gores sent the
following correspondence today in response to a letter dated
May 20, 2020 from former FCC
Commissioners Mignon Clyburn,
Michael Copps, and Gloria Tristani requesting that Securus
Technologies, a Platinum Equity portfolio company, take steps to
support incarcerated individuals and their families during the
COVID-19 pandemic:
June 5, 2020
Dear Commissioners Clyburn, Copps and Tristani:
Thank you for your May 20
correspondence, and for your continued efforts in support of robust
and affordable communications services, particularly in the
corrections environment. We are pleased to support those same goals
both in concept and in action, as change agents who are
transforming Securus Technologies and the industry as a whole.
We agree wholeheartedly that access to reasonably priced
telephone service is more important than ever for the country's
incarcerated population in the face of restrictions on in-person
visitation caused by the coronavirus crisis.
On March 13, the day COVID-19 was
declared a national emergency in the
United States, Securus began offering free and discounted
services to every one of its state and county corrections agency
customers.
Since then, the company has provided 16.1 million free phone
calls totaling 116.2 million free minutes; 4.5 million free video
connections; and 6.6 million free email message stamps to
incarcerated individuals (and their families) at more than 731
facilities. In addition to the calls themselves being free, there
are no funding or transaction fees associated with them.
The company has also provided additional free calling cards, or
"compassion credits," to connect incarcerated individuals who have
fallen ill during the pandemic with their loved ones; provided free
phone calls between incarcerated individuals and public defenders
in certain locations where permitted; and created an inbound email
system by providing printers and supplies at 33 locations in
California where incarcerated
individuals do not have access to individualized email.
Beyond communications connections, Securus also is providing
free access to select games and movies on its tablets in facility
locations where permitted. So far, more than 500,000 movie rentals
and nearly 1 million games have been downloaded or accessed without
charge since April.
Further, the company has signed the FCC's Keep Americans
Connected Pledge, Chairman Pai's initiative focused on mitigating
the pandemic's impact on telecommunications access.
All of these actions to support individuals impacted by COVID-19
are part of a broader effort to transform the company and make
services more accessible and affordable for incarcerated
individuals and their loved ones.
In January, CEO Dave Abel
announced a number of commitments that include lowering the costs
of phone calls and other communications products, increasing
transparency, and engaging directly with communities impacted by
incarceration.
Those transformation efforts haven't come in a vacuum. They were
mandated by Platinum Equity after acquiring the business in 2017. I
am happy to report that since then, prices for Securus calling
services have fallen by more than 30 percent.
To cite just one example: In Washtenaw County, where your letter
cites information claiming that a 10-minute call "would cost about
$11.62," current rates are actually
substantially lower. Under the current contract there, the rates
are $0.21 per minute for all calls,
or $2.10 for a 10-minute call – even
with a substantial commission retained by the corrections agency
under its contract.
Well before the COVID crisis, Inmate Calling Service rates at
Securus were steadily declining even in the absence of FCC-imposed
caps on intrastate rates, falling on average by about 50% since the
FCC issued the 2013 Interstate Inmate Rate Order.
All of Securus' rates for interstate calls are at or below the
per-minute rates set by the FCC in the 2013 Interstate Rate Order,
and its fees are in compliance with those promulgated in the FCC's
2015 Inmate Rate Order. On an intrastate level, Securus' rates are
in compliance with the applicable state PUC / PSC rules and
regulations.
Platinum Equity appointed CEO Dave
Abel to transform Securus; establish a culture of service
focused on the needs of incarcerated consumers and their families
and not just on corrections agency customers; reduce telecom
pricing; and invest in developing new technologies.
Dave and his team are making significant progress on those
objectives. With your permission, I'd like to make them available
to meet with you and discuss these reforms directly, to listen to
your thoughts, and to consider ideas on what we can do better,
faster or both.
Thank you again for your long record for public service on these
issues, and for your willingness to work with us on these shared
objectives.
Best regards,
Tom Gores
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SOURCE Securus Technologies