The Ohio prisons agency has slashed the cost of inmate phone services and plans to install hundreds more phones.
The Department of Rehabilitation and Correction says the current contract with Virginia-based Global Tel-Link was renegotiated to bring the cost of calls down to 5 cents per minute plus applicable taxes.
The agency also said Tuesday that Global Tel-Link will replace the agency’s 2,000 phones and add another 500 as part of the new contract.
The negotiations follow the Federal Communication Commission’s 2013 decision capping costs of long-distance calls after years of complaints from inmate families and prison rights groups.
Under the old system, a 15-minute call could cost an Ohio inmate $17.14