Ajit Pai urges states to cap prison phone rates after he helped kill FCC caps [telecom]

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Pai helped kill FCC caps on intrastate prices, now says states must act.

By Jon Brodkin

Federal Communications Commission Chairman Ajit Pai is urging state governments to impose price caps on prison phone calls, three years after Pai helped kill Obama-era FCC rules that limited the price of such calls.

Pai yesterday sent a letter to the National Association of Regulatory Utility Commissioners (NARUC), saying it is up to state governments to cap intrastate calling prices because the FCC lacks authority to do so. (NARUC represents state utility regulators).