The inmate communication services industry is being fundamentally reshaped by the FCC. Potentially more significant than its predecessor initiative, which significantly reduced prison payphone long-distance rates, the recently issued Further Notice of Proposed Rulemaking seeks comment on key drivers of revenue and profit for these prison payphone providers and the prisons themselves. With the two largest providers of payphone services owned by private equity firms, not usually known for embracing a shrinking profit model, it […]
private equity
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Update (4/30/13): The FCC has given its approval for the ABRY purchase of Securus Technologies from Castle Harlan. From the Public Notice: “Upon review of the record, we find that the transaction is likely to result in certain public interest benefits, including increased capital resources available to Applicants to make service improvements. In addition, Applicants affirm that they will continue to be bound by existing contract rates for service to customers and that there will […]
Update (4/18/14) The Wall Street Journal reports that Global Tel*Link Corp., the largest U.S. operator of prison phones, is being shopped by its private-equity owner American Securities, according to people familiar with the matter. The sale process comes as federal regulators have capped the fees companies like Global Tel*Link can charge for interstate calls to and from inmates and as the government considers limiting charges for calls made within state lines. The Mobile, Ala., company, […]