From The BBC:
Regulator Ofcom has suggested that contracts to provide phone services from prisons in England, Wales and Scotland should be renegotiated.
The view comes in response to an official complaint that telephone calls from prison cost seven times normal payphone rates.
The National Consumer Council said that calls were important for prisoners to maintain a link with their families.
Ofcom found that calls made from privately-run prisons were cheaper.
Investigation
The super-complaint from the NCC said that half the calls made from jail lasted less than three minutes because of the high costs involved.
The NCC and the Prison Reform Trust said that the cost of calls “appear unrelated to the cost of provision”, costing the equivalent of 11p a minute.
This prompted the Ofcom investigation into the contracts between BT and the prison services in England and Wales, and Siemens in Scotland.
“The evidence we have reviewed indicates that the price of telephone calls made by prisoners appears…
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