Parties Propose Joint Briefing Format, Schedule for FCC Inmate Calling Case
The parties to FCC inmate calling service litigation suggested the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit largely consolidate briefing that would last 175 days. The FCC, ICS providers and others -- at the urging of the court --…
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submitted a joint proposed briefing format and schedule Monday in the case (Global Tel*Link v. FCC, No. 15-1461). The filing said petitioners and intervenors were challenging an FCC 2015 order that "adopts permanent tiered per-minute rate caps for all inmate calling services ('ICS'), asserts jurisdiction over both interstate and intrastate calls, regulates ancillary and transaction fees associated with ICS, imposes annual reporting and certification requirements, and asserts jurisdiction over ICS calls carried over both traditional telephone and other advanced technology such as VoIP." The parties said the challenges raised two distinct sets of issues -- those raised by ICS providers and those raised by state and county officials -- and accordingly asked to file separate briefs. Under the proposal, the 12 state government petitioners and intervenors would file consolidated initial and reply briefs while the five ICS providers -- CenturyLink, GTL, Pay Tel Communications, Securus and Telmate -- would file most of their arguments in initial and reply briefs, while Securus would also file shorter briefs analyzing confidential cost data it submitted on credit card transactions and "single-call services." Under proposed word limits, the FCC and its supporters, which include Martha Wright Petitioners and Network Communications International (a wholesale-oriented ICS provider), would receive the same number of words, 29,500, for their responses as the challengers in their initial briefs. The initial industry and state briefs would be due 40 days from the date of the court's order setting the schedule, followed 60 days later by the FCC response brief and intervenor briefs 15 days after the FCC brief. The challengers would then have 30 more days to file their reply briefs, with final briefs incorporating a joint appendix due 30 days after that. The court previously stayed the FCC rate caps, one set of ancillary fees and application of 2013 interim rate caps to intrastate services, pending further review (see 1603070055 and 1603230058).