Campaigns

Mobile Justice: Consumer Protections on Mobile Phones, Calling Cards and Calls to Prisons

The century-old concept of "Universal Service" reflects an important social and economic goal of promoting access to affordable telephone service for all US residents, regardless of where they live. The Universal Service Fund (USF) is the pot of money allocated to ensure that everyone has equal access to telephone service.  This is only possible because the FCC has defined landline telephone service as a Title II Universal Service. With mobile phones and the growth of the Internet, the communications landscape has shifted dramatically in the last 30 years while the framework for promoting universal service has lagged far behind. Instead of direct subsidies to households living in un-served and underserved areas, some phone companies are getting rich while the urban poor, those living on Native reservations, and rural communities of all races remain without affordable access to telephone service.

Telephones are one of the most important and useful modern inventions.  Whether wireline or wireless, phones and phone-calls are a vital part of our communication system, and a piece of technology that many of us take for granted.  Yet for prisoners, the homeless, youth, immigrants and immigrant detainees, it’s a different story—phone calls are not a right. 

To ensure equal access to telephone service in the digital age, broadband should be defined as a Title II Communications Service, and Universal Service Fund rules and resources should be extended to fixed and mobile broadband. Join MAG-Net and our allies as we organize to align the Universal Service Fund (USF) to match reality of the "digital age".  We call on Congress to modernizing the Universal Service Fund and creating new rules to expand USF resources, and extend USF rules to include broadband.

We believe everyone has the human right to communicate, but exorbitant collect-calling surcharges, limited ‘Safelink’ minutes, outrageous “pay-per-minute” prices and fraudulent calling cards create real structural barriers to accessing communication rights.  Join MAG-Net as we call on the FCC, Congress, and local governments to protect the consumer and human rights of those pushed to the margins of democracy.